To Shanshu
by Supermorff
Summary: To live, to die. To be born or reborn. To become human or be immortal. To Shanshu. In the future, Angel learns what to Shanshu really means. But the future isn't that different to the present, and the world will always need champions. BuffyAngel moments.
1. Part 1

There will be a proper synopsis of the story in the next part. This part is more of a scene setter, and I don't want to ruin the surprise. Please reserve judgement until you've got to the end of the part.

**Spoiler warning:** 'To Shanshu in LA', I suppose, and later on there will be spoilers for Buffy and Angel canon up to the end of Buffy Season 6.

**Disclaimer:** I haven't paid for any characters or places, so I own none of them. Nevertheless, just as Joss has creative control of the show, I suppose I have creative control of this story.

* * *

Champion:

I burst through the window, scattering glass shards over the marble floor, but I'm too late. The chanting has already begun, and the thing leading the chanting is that very warrior of the underworld that tried to hurt my friends. As I raise my weapon – his weapon, actually – and advance, he places the ritual scroll on the big, foreboding crate in the middle of the room and comes towards me.

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Demon:

He's disrupted the ceremony; this pawn caught up in a game too large for his comprehension. With him present I cannot continue the ritual lest he disrupt our plans. So I place the Scroll of Aberjian – a truly ancient relic even compared to myself – onto the great box into which we will summon the Beast that will cause the downfall of the world, and turn to face him, conjuring a silvery blade into my hand. This 'hero' has one just like it – he must have taken it from one of my previous victims, no matter. As I move to confront him, that contemptible lawyer picks up the scroll and continues the ritual in my place.

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Lawyer:

Everything's going wrong. Well, no, one thing's going wrong – _he_'s here. Just a short time ago he tried to take me under his wing, and now he has the audacity to break into this place of worship and disrupt our ceremonies. He has to, of course; 'protecting the innocent' is his duty. And so, because of the interruption, our ritual master has to stop the chant to fight him. The ritual is unattended, the monks are getting confused and the boss is becoming very agitated. So I step forward and snatch up the parchment – the very parchment that I had helped steal – and begin reading. I shout for the monks to pick up the chant over the din of the battle being waged only feet away. Weapons clash as the two figures move back and forth across the room, slashing at each other, and still I read.

And now, the ritual is complete.

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Demon:

Even though I'm engaged in furious combat, I hear the chanting cease and can see as the sacrificial vampires bound around the box turn to dust, and I know that the Beast has been summoned within. I know that I'll surely be slain in this battle, but I'm now willing to pass on knowing that my mission is complete.

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Champion:

The ritual is complete and they're wheeling away that ominous box, but I can't stop them because, for the moment, I'm still fighting this monstrous demon. The blades clash and it doesn't take long for an opening to present itself. As soon as he drops his guard, I swing the blade into his skull and rip it away again, revealing his hideous face. And as I watch his death throes, I realise that he never meant to win and that this fight served only one purpose: to prevent me from stopping the ritual. That just leaves me and the lawyer, and he's still holding the Scroll of Aberjian. That's why I'm here, to reclaim that scroll, and he knows it, so why didn't he flee? There's a brazier by one of the walls, and now that he's realised that I'll stop at nothing to get it back, he tries to destroy the scroll by burning it. My blade cleanly severs his limb, and as he kneels there, clutching at the bloody stump, I reclaim the scroll and leave him there.

But that monster, that Beast, summoned into the box, must have been summoned for a reason. We'll need to do some research.

What _was_ that?

------------------------------

Creature:

The last thing I remember was the Slayer, Buffy, staring up at me in awe and terror. Then a sharp pain in my back as I felt a wooden stake suddenly penetrate my heart. I turned in time to see my own childe behind me. He truly loved her, I realised, but then he had a soul now, so why couldn't he? Then I turned to dust.

Being staked is the most curious feeling and few get to remember it. First the sharp sting of the stake itself, which soon becomes a gentle numbness. You can feel nothing – no pain – but a slight burning sensation permeating your entire being. Then sweet oblivion.

The next thing I knew, I had form again and I was stuck in a cage, bathed in sweat. I never sweat as a vampire. And I was breathing heavily. And it hit me as I remembered the last time I was like this – I'm alive! But before I could contemplate the how or why of it, the cage was wheeled away.

I was kept like that for who knows how long before my senses began to clear and now, finally, I can hear three people talking. For the moment though my eyes are still blurry and my hearing still fuzzy, and I can barely discern how many voices there are, let alone what they're saying. Then one of them approaches me, a woman, and tries to calm me down.

"I know it's a bit confusing," she soothes, "but it's gonna be better soon… a lot better… Angel."


	2. Part 2

Now you know... centuries in the future, Angel is resurrected as a human (hence the Shanshu prophecy is fulfilled) and struggles to cope in a new and strange world. Other Jossverse characters will later make an appearance.

The story was written (or, at least, I started writing it) between Buffy Seasons 6 and 7. I've made no attempt to reconcile this story with the show, and this universe diverges from the Jossverse at that time.

* * *

Angel:

Okay, so here's where I am. I'm in an office building, quite nicely furnished. There's even a wooden table, which I've been told is quite expensive nowadays. As far as I can tell, I've been dead for, oh, several hundred years. Well I've been dead for longer, but it was several hundred years ago that I was staked – by Spike of all people. I don't really blame him. I'm a human, which is great – really – but my situation would be a whole lot better if these damn lawyers – a new version of Wolfram and Hart, if my guess is correct – would tell me what was going on. And why, of all people, they decided to raise me. All they've done so far is try to make me feel at home by isolating me in a room with items from the twentieth century. There's a CD player in the corner with one CD that keeps playing over and over. I wish I'd bothered to learn how to use them when I was still, well, undead. Then I might be able to turn the damn thing off. I swear I'm going to rip it off the wall if it starts over again.

There are two people talking just on the other side of the door. It's probably two of the lawyers that raised me – that sycophantic boy, Gene, and his whore, Simone. Maybe now I'll get some answers.

"Did you see the way he reacted? Took it all in his stride. Someone with that much willpower must be the one." They don't realise I can hear them.

"I keep telling you, it's not right. There's something about him… it just doesn't fit."

"Look, it'll be fine. We've got everything we need to get started, and once we're done you'll see I'm right." The door opens and I sit in the bean bag chair they've provided for me, silently cursing the man who invented it and pretending to be engrossed in the fascinating music.

"Angel? How are you?" I look up, a false smile on my face.

"Oh, I'm great. Being summoned in a cage and locked in a room for hours on end just makes me feel all warm inside. Not the blood flow thing, really."

"Sorry about that. I hope we provided enough entertainment to keep you amused?"

"Oh yeah, I'm a huge fan of technopop." The sarcasm is evidently lost on them. They both sit down on the desk.

"Good. Now I suppose you have questions? We'll be happy to answer them for you."

"Yeah, I've got a question. What the hell am I doing here?"

"There's a war going on, Angel, and ever since the End of Days…" So that's happened already huh? Guess I missed it "…our side's been losing."

"Our side?"

"Yes. The forces of darkness."

"Oh, of course. Continue."

"We need a Champion, Angel. We need someone to unite the minions of the First, to restore the balance. Frankly, we need you."

"Me? What do you know about me, anyway?"

"Well, the records of our predecessor, the so-called Wolfram & Hart" – thought so – "were largely lost during the End of Days. We've had to piece information together from other sources since then. We do know that in your brief time on the planet – 200 years we believe – you were more feared than any other vampire, almost more than any other demon. And you've killed a number of Slayers as well. So strong as well as ruthless." Slayers? When did I ever…?

"What Slayers… exactly… do you think I killed?"

"Uh, there was a Slayer in the Boxer Rebellion, China - no record of her name. The others were in California: Kendra, Buffy, Faith. All reported to have died by your hand." Now I know just how much information they've got… next to nothing. The other side of nothing, in fact. Spike killed the Slayer in the Boxer Rebellion. Drusilla killed Kendra. Buffy was very much alive when I was staked – I wonder what happened to her. And Faith… suddenly I remember. Yes, I remember Faith. Newly out of prison, expecting a welcoming face. Instead she found me, and before she knew what was happening, I drank her dry. Oh god… Then off to Sunnydale to seek out Buffy. Oh god… What did I do?

"So this is how I'm remembered, is it? As the Scourge of Europe?"

"Yes. Why? Is there something wrong?" How can I tell these people? They're the enemy, aren't they? Best to play along. Just for now.

"No… nothing's wrong." Suddenly they both get to their feet. I clamber off the bean bag chair.

"Good, because we've made arrangements." Now I'm nervous. What happened when Darla was brought back? They wouldn't…

"Arrangements?"

"To restore your power." Of course they would. I have to get out of here, get away from these people. And I have to do it very fast.

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Gene:

Just after I helped raise this awesome monster, I was on the most amazing high. The most vicious creature to have ever existed, according to some sources. Then I met him. I expected coldness, true, but the brooding took me by surprise. He's closed off, detached from everyone in our small office. Perhaps it's the weight of the soul now that he's human. I've heard that can be hard.

Well, if that's the case, we'll soon fix it. We've brought one of our clients in for a special favour. As soon as Jericho is done, we'll have the Scourge of Europe back again. And then the world will burn.

Still… his detachment worries me.

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Jericho:

I'm an old vampire, by modern standards, almost three hundred years old now. I was at the End of Days, I saw a lot of powerful vampires go to their deaths. But I have something they don't. I have a life outside of vampirism. I'm a part of the mortal world. So I've stayed alive by hiding, and these boys at BC&N have helped me blend. Now they want my help to turn an ancient vampire back into the killing machine he once was, to lead our 'people' into the world and crush the rest of the forces of good. I have misgivings about it, I don't mind telling you. But they've got a contract that they're so fond of waving in my face. They've done my dirty work, so now I have to do theirs. Still, I'm not comfortable with killing. It's so much easier to blend in when you don't leave a trail of bodies, and even though they tell me he won't be missed, I hesitate.

They have some people lead me to his room. Shit, there's actual wood in here. This guy must be important. I mean, _I'm_ here, aren't I? I can smell the guy's fear. That's understandable - I'm just about to kill him. But there's something else as well, a musky odour I haven't smelt in a long time. This guy has honour, has nobility. And honour isn't just something you wake up with. Could this guy have been an honourable man even as a vampire? He's something else.

I lean in – they haven't even restrained him. Suddenly he bolts. Crap he's fast. He spins around, shatters the wooden table with a single blow and grabs a shard. Holding it high, he charges me aiming for the heart, but this time I'm ready for him. I catch his arm, aiming the improvised stake into the air. He's obviously done this before. Interesting. I cannot suppress a smile. Why does he resist so?

Just as I think I've won, and bend down to drink, he surprises me again. His fist piles into my chest and I fly backwards into the wall. As his figure disappears out of the door, all I can do is laugh. There's a new player in town. And I'm going to enjoy the challenge.

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Angel:

Okay, I know I haven't been human for quite some time, but I'm pretty certain that last time I couldn't destroy a heavy wooden table just by touching it, or throw a vampire across a room. What's happening to me?

No, no time to think, no time to just stand and watch this vampire pick himself up and try to bite me again. No, I have to get out of this building now before they realise what I've done and try to catch me. So I run, and I run and I run.

In seconds, I'm out of the building, which is surprising because I've just run down about a hundred flights of stairs, but I keep running. I have to get as far away from these lawyers as I can. So I keep running until I can't run any more.


	3. Part 3

Angel:

I was out of the building, but where was I going to go? Truth be told, I hadn't thought about it. I needed to find some connection to my past, some people that I could call friends. I had to find out what had happened after I died, and I had to do all of that without letting the lawyers find me.

I had no money, and the people of this world _still_ seemed ignorant of the supernatural, so finding sympathy was unlikely. So I resorted to living on the streets. I'd done it before, so I knew what to expect. I watch the other homeless men and women, constantly in a state of depression or ill health or both. They have no idea what preys on them, and they have no idea that they're now harbouring a wanted man. You spend time on the streets and sooner or later people just stop seeing you, even the ageing man who slept in the next box over in that dark alley where the sun doesn't even shine at noon. Well, that would suit me fine – if they think I'm not even here then there's less chance of being found by the only people aware of my existence – but there's a flaw in that plan. Basically, it goes along the lines of: this is a new world for me, and not being a vampire any more, I need more than just rats to keep me alive.

So, having spent more than enough time in the darkest, deepest alleyway I could find, the cold and the hunger forced me to emerge. I need food, I need money and I need employment, and it's not that easy to open a detective agency with no license, no property to speak of and the forces of evil searching high and low for you.

So now I'm applying for a temporary job, at a bookstore of all places. I've been out of the loop for quite a long time, but maybe knowing about 'ancient' literature will give me an advantage over the competition.

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Bookkeeper:

I've needed an assistant for quite a while. The store is quite extensive, containing most of the surviving paper books from this region, and since dear Isabelle died, I've had to run it all the time. Still, the homeless man before me doesn't exactly fit the profile I'd envisaged. Nevertheless, this being a fair country and me being a fair man, I have to give him an interview.

"What's your name?" He hesitates for a moment. How can he not know his name?

"Liam," he says after a while.

"And what was your previous occupation?" Again, another pause. I wonder if perhaps I'll get a single honest answer in this entire questionnaire.

"I… helped people with problems."

"What sort of problems?"

"Well, it involved a lot of looking up things in very old books and cross referencing." I never would have expected that.

"Really? When did you last read a book?"

"Uh… it's been quite a long time." Yes, it looks it.

"I see. Why do you want to work here?"

"I need information, I need money and I need privacy. I think I may just be able to get those things here."

"Money I understand, but why privacy? Are you running from someone?" There is the briefest pause again.

"Yes." At least he's honest about that.

"Who? Why?"

"Who I'm running from isn't important, and I'm running because they think I'm someone I'm not."

"You mean you're innocent?"

"No, I can't say I'm innocent. Fact is, I really did do most of what they think I did. But I've put that past behind me, and I wish everyone else could do the same." Suddenly, I don't know why, but I realise I trust this man. He may not want to tell me everything, but he's willing to at least tell me this – everything he thinks I should know, he is telling me. There's something noble in that.

"What information do you think you can get here? Most of these books are hundreds of years old."

"Yeah, well that's okay. I need very specific information, and if you don't have it, I don't know where else I'll be able to get it."

"Care to share?"

"Not just yet." Fair enough. I sigh. This man looks dishevelled and he's quite tight-lipped, but he's at least honest and claims to know the material – which is more than I know – and, frankly, nobody else wants the job.

"Tell you what," I tell him, trying to pretend I'm not desperate for him to say yes, "I'll give you a tryout, say a month. If you do a good job, I'll put you on staff and if not, you'll need to find your information elsewhere." He smiles – at least half-smiles – and nods his head.

"Sounds good. Umm… one more thing. I don't suppose you'd allow me to put a bedroll down in the shop, would you? 'Cos then I could protect the place at night, you know, from… thieves." I don't know if I trust him implicitly, but he clearly needs some shelter, and this place needs protection at night. I don't want to lose someone else the way I lost Isabelle.

"Okay, sure. You can sleep here, but only until you get a place of your own."

"Thanks." I lean forward and hold out my hand.

"I'm Edward Giles."

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Angel:

Giles? Could there be a connection? Is it possible that I've come to the one place in this world where one of Rupert Giles' descendants works? I hadn't noticed a similarity initially – his face is slightly rounder, his hair significantly thinner – but as I look closely there is a sort of resemblance in the jaw and the eyes. It's worth looking into.

"Giles? You don't sound English." He looks confused for a moment.

"English? What makes you think it's English?" I try to put on an innocent face.

"Why? Isn't it?" He looks suspicious for a moment, as if he realises that there's something I haven't told him. If only he knew how much.

"It pays 53 dollars an hour" – talk about inflation – "and you start right now." Fine by me. It's not like I have anything else to do.

I'll work the rest of the day, get my pay and see how much food it'll get me.

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Customer:

I need help, and the only person I can turn to is Ed. The shop's ahead of me, closer… closer. I know they're behind me, but hopefully they won't see me duck inside.

I've made it, now Ed can hide me. But Ed's not here. There's someone new behind the counter. He's covered in muck and I think for a moment he's a thief. But no, there's a tag on his chest… and a hand on my arm. Eyes wide, I slowly turn to look at the man over my shoulder. His face is craggy, his eyes deep set, and though I don't recognise him, I know exactly what he wants with me. He'll beat me up, then he'll take me away and I'll never see the sky again.

"Hey!" It's the man behind the counter, rising from his seat, leaving an open book in front of him. He must have seen the fear on my face, but what's he doing? Doesn't he know what's going on?

The hunter releases his grip on me and turns towards the newcomer, practically cracking his knuckles in anticipation. I back up against the wall, cursing myself for involving Ed and his co-worker. Suddenly, the hunter throws a punch and the bookkeeper skips lightly to the side, then, faster than I can see, swings a punch into the hunter's stomach. To my surprise, he doubles over in pain, and almost sinks to his knees but for the young bookkeeper who puts an arm under his shoulder and heaves him out of the store. As the hunter scrambles to his feet and away, the bookkeeper calls after him

"Nobody hassles our customers" and slams the door.

I'm still staring when he turns to me, and through the pounding in my ears I just about hear him ask if I'm okay. I choke out that I'm looking for Ed, and he calls into the back room. Ed emerges and rushes over to me,

"My god, Rick, what happened?" I can't speak, so the bookkeeper, rubbing the back of his neck as if nothing at all has happened, answers for me.

"He was being manhandled by some ruffian, but don't worry, I threw him out."

"You threw him out?" Ed is clearly as surprised as I am, but the bookkeeper doesn't understand why.

"Yeah. I got into some fights in my last job."

"No kidding. Well, thanks." Ed took a few bills out of his pocket and pressed them into the young man's hand. "Here's today's pay. Go out for a couple of hours and get some food or clothes or something will you?" The young man looks confused for a moment.

"… Yeah… yeah I'll do that." And slowly he turns and walks away, stuffing his newly acquired money into a pocket. He casts a glance over his shoulder, then disappears out of the store and is gone into the darkness in moments. Who is that?


	4. Part 4

Angel:

I've got some money, but how long will it last me? I need some clean clothes, and I need some food. And I've started my search for the past. Most of the stuff in the store was nothing more than novels. There were some reference books, even some demon lore stuff, but nothing serious. There was, however, quite a large catalogue of newspapers. They went back to the mid-twentieth century through to the late twenty-second century. Every single one of them stopped suddenly, and I can only guess that there was some cataclysm – the End of Days in all probability – that stopped all the news. Either that or there was a big movement towards computerisation. A part of me wishes that the papers had covered it, just so I could see how the mortal population had dealt with it – whatever it was. So far there has been no mention of anyone I knew, but I haven't had a chance to look at many so I haven't given up hope. And of course I would have looked at more, but for that interesting encounter with Edward's friend. That was odd.

Suddenly, something catches my eye. No, it can't be. I look again. There is a blonde walking on the other side of the street, hidden by half-ruined buildings now. I move to get a better view. How's it possible? It's Buffy! She's walking down my street, arms full of groceries. How can she be alive? How's it possible! Could she have been turned? Is she a goddamn vampire? Maybe good Slayers never really die. It doesn't matter; I need to talk to her. I call out "Buffy!" She turns, sees me staring at her and takes off at a run, grocery bag discarded on the cold, hard sidewalk.

Without thinking, I take off after her, calling again "Buffy!" I'm certain it's her. The likeness is so uncanny; it couldn't possibly be anyone else. Still she runs, terrified. I suppose I can understand. It's dark, and I don't exactly look my best. Anyone would be scared. But I have to make her know it's me – that I don't mean to hurt her.

She's fast, but not as fast as me. I think I'm gaining on her, but then, before I can react she's ducked down an alleyway. She knows the lay of the land like the back of her hand, which is more than I do. I can only rely on my speed and my voice if I want to catch up with her. It's Buffy. She has to remember me. Why doesn't she stop? "Buffy!"

She gets through the alley on the other side, into a small square. She's cornered, but why is she so terrified? "Buffy, it's me. Don't you recognise me?" Of course, last time she saw me I tried to kill her. "I'm not evil anymore, Buffy. I'm human. See?" She cowers against the wall, tears in her eyes, hands held up before her.

Now I'm crying. Why doesn't she see? Why? I kneel in front of her, begging, pleading.

There's someone behind me, and I've been so involved with chasing down Buffy that I didn't sense him until he was upon me.

"You! Get away from my sister!"

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Champion:

Things just keep getting weirder and weirder – or at least weirder than usual. First of all, a hugely powerful demon was summoned from Hell and tried to kill all of my friends, which I suppose I should have expected seeing as how it is our sacred duty to stop the legions of The First. Then the lawyers raise something in a box, and it must be important because that hugely powerful demon died trying to protect it. And anything _that_ important must be strong. And if that wasn't enough, now this homeless man, a crazy by all appearances, has chased down my sister. And he's quite fast for someone who, by all accounts, should be malnourished. Maybe it's a cunning disguise. Of course, he might just be insane. Either way, Eve is terrified and I have to step in. After all, she's my sister.

"You!" I yell at him. "Get away from my sister!" He turns – I don't think he even realised I was there – and stares at me. Something in his expression betrays his confusion.

"Your sister?" he asks incredulously, eyeing the heavy axe I'm holding in one hand.

"Yeah, who'd you think you were chasing?" He drags a grimy sleeve over his face, quickly wiping his eyes.

"Uh… someone else. I guess I was wrong." He tries to move away, but I step in front of him.

"No you don't get off that easily. What's your name?" He blurts out the name Angel before he's had a chance to think. Why, oh why, do I recognise that name? "Angel? Angelus! Monster!" I grip the axe tightly. "You were the one in that box." Of course! It stands to reason that they'd bring back the most sadistic vampire of all time to bring about the Light's destruction.

"What do you know about me?"

"Enough," I tell him. "What were you doing to my sister?" It might be me but he seems suddenly quite angry.

"Nothing, I told you I thought she was somebody else."

"Who?"

"It really doesn't matter. Look, I'm not a vampire!"

"Who said anything about a vampire?"

"You did! You called me Angelus, which is fair enough. Wrong time period, but, I guess, technically correct. Thing is, I'm not evil, I'm not even a vampire anymore. I'm human. You want to feel my pulse?" He holds out a wrist towards me. Now I don't trust him. I mean, there are no recorded cases of vampires ever becoming human again, and if I take his wrist I'd be putting myself in a very dangerous position.

"Maybe there's another way to see if you're telling the truth."

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Angel:

Damn! I was so sure. But that girl isn't Buffy. The resemblance is incredible, but, if she's this guy's sister, she can't have been around since I was alive – dead – undead – whatever. And he looks older than her, and I know for a fact that Buffy didn't have an older brother. But he at least knows about the Scourge of Europe, which begs the question – is it coincidence that Buffy's double is also a demon fighter?

He lowers his axe for a moment – I swear that it looks oddly familiar – and pulls a pair of handcuffs out of a pocket. I don't know why he's carrying handcuffs around – I can only assume that they come in useful when you find someone accosting your sister – but when he throws them to me I slip them on. A show of faith on my part, though he knows that if I am a vampire I could probably get out of them. Once I'm in chains, he goes to his sister, helps her up and hugs her. I think he says something, but I don't catch it. Then he comes back, grabs the cuff chains and pulls me after him, his sister taking the rear.

I allow myself to be dragged along, barely looking where we're going but wary that he hasn't let go of that axe. I look over my shoulder. His sister was studying my back intently until I turned, when she immediately averted her gaze. This may not be Buffy, but I have to make good with her – just to feel better about myself.

"Hey," I try. "I'm sorry for chasing you. I guess I was hoping to see someone else and you just looked a lot like her. Forgive me?" She says nothing, just looks at the ground.

"Don't bother," says her brother. "She never speaks, never has."

"What? Never?"

"Nope."

"I'm sorry."

"What for?"

"It must be difficult, for both of you."

"Yeah, well, it doesn't matter. I'm her brother. It's my job to take care of her."

"You both fight demons?" I asked, thinking about another brother and sister who fought demons, and how tragically that had ended.

"No, I do the fighting; she stays home until it's done. Unless of course someone sends her out for groceries and she's too sweet to not do it."

"Okay. Hey, shouldn't you blindfold me or something?"

"No point. If it turns out you're not trustworthy, you'll never leave alive anyway." I nod. It's a hard line to take, but I guess necessary.

We walk for a while longer, until eventually we pull up next to a large metal door. The guy knocks twice and a voice comes through from the other side.

"What do you want?" Oddly, it sounds very familiar. Where have I heard that voice before?

"I've got something I need you to validate." The bolts on the other side of the door slide back suddenly and it creaks open.

It's dark inside, but I can make out a shape in a chair against the far wall. It moves into the light and I'm stunned by the figure I see before me.

"Well, well," it says. "The prodigal sire returns."

* * *

I would like to point out that the name Eve was not taken from the character in Angel Season 5. My character was created about two years before Angel Season 5 was first aired. Her name was mainly a play on Dawn's name (you know, Dawn in the morning and Eve at dusk).


	5. Part 5

Angel:

As the mysterious figure leans forward into the scant illumination provided by a side light, my jaw drops.

"Well, well," he says in a harsh Cockney accent. "The prodigal sire returns."

"Spike?" Spike is, in many respects, exactly as I'd last seen him. That is, except for his hair, which is no longer bleached and is now cascading down the back of the chair and piling on the floor, and for the addition of a scruffy beard, which is knotted in several places on his chest. Even the tattered black duster that I remember is strewn over the table by his side. His mouth twists as if he was swallowing, and he looks up at my escort.

"Give us a minute, would ya?" Spike's accent hasn't disappeared, which is odd considering I haven't heard a single unusual accent since waking up. Both of them turn and walk out. The brother tosses the keys to the handcuffs to Spike and then closes the door. Spike stands, and I see just how long his hair has got. Even at his full height it lies in heaps on the ground.

"Lemme get those for ya." He leans forward and unlocks the cuffs, letting them fall to the ground. There is quite a lot on the ground. So Spike not only doesn't take care of his appearance anymore, he doesn't even take care of his surroundings. I rub my wrists as Spike sits back down. It's odd that Spike doesn't seem surprised to see me. "Ya know," he says, "I could have sworn you were dead, what with me killin' you an' all."

"Yeah, well, about that. I got better."

"I gathered. Everything good happens for you, you bastard." He pauses. "Barnett, Clarke & Nicholls brought you back, didn't they?"

"Yeah. Why is it that everyone I meet knows me only as the Scourge of Europe?" Spike leans back.

"Yeah, about that…"

"Spike…"

"Well I couldn't let your infamy not live through the ages could I? So I tampered with certain sources of information. Took me a couple of hundred years, but thanks partly to the carnage of the End of Days, I eventually managed to wipe out all records of your soulful existence."

"Why?"

"Had you died saving the world I wouldn't have bothered. But you died trying to kill Buffy, and I had to be the one that staked you. That single act of maliciousness erased all the good you'd done."

"But the lawyers thought I'd killed Buffy!"

"Hmm… don't know where they got that from."

"What happened to Buffy?"

"You don't know? Oh, that's right, you got staked trying to kill her!"

"You must have seen that guy's sister. She looks…"

"I know what she looks like! You think I don't see it every day?" I pause for a moment. There's a part of Spike that's the same as it ever was, but there's another part that's new, even caring.

"Do they know?"

"Of course not! What would I tell them, that Matt's mute sister looks exactly like someone I shagged centuries ago?" I'm on him in a second, one arm under his chin and the other pinning his chest down. I think he's surprised, partly by the amazing speed and partly by the body heat. "Shit, Peaches, you're human. How did you do that?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're faster than me, and I'm the oldest vampire on the planet as far as I know. And you're a human! How's it possible?" I have to admit, I've been wondering exactly the same thing.

"I… don't know. Ever since I woke up as human I seem to have retained my vampiric abilities."

"_Retained_? You're faster now than you were when I killed you!" I let him go. How can I use this power? How did I get it? Was it a part of the ritual that brought me back, and if so, why did Darla not exhibit similar strength when she was brought back by similar means?

"What's going on, Spike?" He raises his eyebrows.

"The power's been shifting since the End of Days. The minions of the First were defeated but are still numerous. Fact is, they now outnumber us quite considerably, and if only they weren't so diverse and uncommunicative, they could probably wipe us all out. Problem for us now is that there are groups all over the world trying to unite them all – that's what you were for in all likelihood."

"What can I do to help?"

"The good fight, mate. Join in, maybe you can make a difference. We're just fighting for survival. Any little bit helps."

"What's your little bit, Spike?"

"What?"

"See, seems to me that all you do is sit in this room, in your own filth, and never do anything." There's fire in Spike's eyes as he rises to face me.

"What do you know about it?"

"You'd be surprised. I was moping in the gutters for a hundred years after I got my soul. The thing is, I eventually did something about it. It's time to cut your hair, clean yourself up and make a difference."

"Go away, Angel." And he sits down again, an air of finality of his actions. I guess that's my cue to leave.

------------------------------

Champion:

Spike has, for as long as I've been alive, been there giving advice and support to the minions of the Powers That Be. And being a vampire with a soul – the only one there has ever been according to him – he is a living… undead… repository of history. He's surprisingly good with children, and when someone has a child it is Spike that recounts the history of the good fight. He likes telling certain stories, not so much about his more ruthless years, but about the Slayer, Buffy, and her part in his acquisition of a soul. When my sister and I were very young, Spike told us about how he'd fallen for Buffy, how he'd wanted to be a better man for her, and had got a soul. Then he told how the demon Angelus, the sworn enemy of both Spike and the Slayer, had come to town and murdered her, so Spike had avenged her death by staking his own sire. I think Eve always liked to hear those stories, though something on her face told me that she didn't really believe them.

With this 'Angel' claiming to be that very demon, it only made sense that the only person who could verify his story would be the one person still alive that had been there. So we'd brought him to Spike's little house. I thought it very strange that Spike didn't seem very bothered to see him. In fact, he seemed to be expecting to see him. Why, oh why, would he be expecting to see a monster like Angelus? And why had he wanted to talk to him alone? There was clearly something that had happened that Spike hadn't told us.

Eve headed back to the headquarters while I waited outside the door. I mulled it over as I waited. Spike had always portrayed Angelus as a cruel sadistic monster, one that toyed with his victims before murdering them, and one with not a drop of humanity. But this man, Angel, didn't fit that description. He said he was human, which I still have to be convinced of, but he wasn't as evil as Spike described him. I had never thought Spike capable of lying before, but…

There is a click and the door swings open. There's Angel, rubbing his wrists. If Spike trusted him enough to remove the handcuffs, I guess I can trust him enough to check if he's human.

"Give me your wrist." He does so, without even thinking. Incredible that someone newly human has so much trust. There's a pulse there, strong and throbbing. There's no doubt about it: he is human. I let go of the wrist. "What did Spike say to you?"

"We've never really got on."

"What did he _say_?"

"He told me why you think I'm a bad guy."

"Oh yeah?"

"I'm not a bad guy… Matt, is it?" Did Spike tell him my name? "Look, I was a monster. I'll not deny it. I killed without remorse for more than a hundred years. But then I was cursed by gypsies. They gave me a soul." They gave him a soul? A hundred years before Spike got a soul?

"Like Spike? You fought for the side of good?"

"Not immediately. For another hundred or so years I just sat in the gutter, thinking about the awful things that I'd done."

"What changed?"

"I met someone. I saw her, and I loved her, and she was worth fighting for." Sounds familiar.

"Who?"

"The vampire Slayer, Buffy." I just stare at him. Assuming that he's telling the truth, which I can't help but do at the moment, it suddenly makes sense why Spike had said he was a bad guy. Everything that had made Spike who he is now – the soul, the love of Buffy – his own sire had done it first. But did that justify destroying all the good that he had done?

"Spike said that you killed Buffy."

"No, she was very much alive when I was killed."

"Spike said he staked you." How much of what Spike said was true?

"He did. Don't hold it against him, though, he was right to do it. I'd lost my soul, and Buffy being the person I'd cared about most, I went to try and kill her." I couldn't believe it. He was admitting to me that he'd tried to destroy the person that had made him honourable. You just had to admire that.

"I think I understand. Come on, man. Time to go home."

------------------------------

Edward:

Rick's arrival had thrown everything out. First of all, I had to get rid of Liam for a while, so I know he suspects something. I'll just have to deal with that when he gets back. For now though, I have more pressing business to deal with.

Rick had been a liaison between the group's headquarters at the bookstore and our people in the field. Problem was the operation was a complete disaster. Rick and a few others had escaped, but the mission had failed.

"Jacqueline's dead, Ed!" Rick yelled at me once I'd sat him down. Shit. The Slayer's dead, and the First is amassing its power for a final strike.

"W… we need to get the Watcher's journals together, find out where the next Slayer is."

"It's too late, Ed. The powers of dark are going to meet, and we don't have time to do all the rituals and get someone to find the Slayer in time."

"Then Matt's going to have to do it alone."

"Oh, god. What are we going to tell Matt? It'll kill him." There's a sound from the doorway and we both immediately rise to our feet.

"Who's there?" There's a whimper, and Eve shuffles into the light. "Eve, I'm sorry, we didn't hear you come in. Did you hear what we were saying?" She nods. "Is Matt going to be back soon?" Another nod.

"We have to tell him the truth, Ed."

"I know." I hear the door open in the shop, and go to see who it is, motioning for Rick and Eve to stay hidden.

It's Matt, and he's not alone.

"Matt, what are you doing with Liam?" Matt smirks.

"Liam? This is Angel, the Scourge of Europe." I think I can hear Rick fainting in the back room.


	6. Part 6

Angel:

Okay, I'd realised that something was strange, but I hadn't realised that the bookstore where I'd acquired temporary employment was a front for Matt's demon fighting business. I guess I shouldn't have been so surprised. After all, it was owned by a man named Giles and it contained books.

The problem arose as soon as we came back, when Edward's friend, the man I'd rescued earlier from the burly enforcer, delivered some very bad news. The lawyers and various other groups from around the world are about to have a meeting to unite their organisation. If it goes through as planned and they start to work together, they'll destroy every single last one of us.

"Do we know where it is?" I ask, once it has been satisfactorily resolved that I am on their side.

"No."

"Do we know when it is?"

"No."

"What _do_ we know?"

"Not a lot." That doesn't help any.

"No problem," Matt says. "Jackie and I will break into the BC&N building and find out."

"Matt," says Edward very carefully. "Jackie's dead. She was killed by vampires letting Rick and the others escape." Nothing can compare to the look on Matt's face. I don't know who this 'Jackie' was, but she and Matt obviously had some heavy history. How would I have looked if someone had told me that Buffy had died like that? How did I look when Willow showed up on that auspicious day? Without another word, he stands up and walks out of the room. Eve – I don't really know why she was in the room when she was uninvolved – stands up and holds out a hand as if to stop him, but of course she says nothing. Understanding that at this point he would be inconsolable, I turn my attention to other matters.

"I'll do it." Everyone looks at me. "I'll get in, their vampire sensors will go off, and they'll be so preoccupied with chasing me that someone can get in, get what we need and get out before they realise it." Nobody says anything.

"Uhh… yeah. See, I don't think we can really count on Matt for this one, and… you're not actually a vampire anymore." I hadn't thought of that.

"No," says a voice beside me. I turn to look, and there is Spike, his long hair and beard hacked off and bleached once more. "But I am."

------------------------------

Spike:

Angel has always had a power about him that everybody can see but him. When he was a monster he was the cruelest and most evil monster there was. And when he was good, he brought out the goodness in other people.

I spent a lot of time with Angel in both of his states. I can't say I particularly liked him as either, but I did respect him. And when I wanted Buffy, it was Angel's example that I followed. But no matter what I did, Angel had always done it first. He'd got a soul first; he'd slept with Buffy first. I couldn't prove myself to anyone without being compared to my sire – and what had he left as a reminder of his crusade? He'd tried to kill Buffy. And still he was better than me. Of course, I had done nothing special. No, I was just fighting the good fight for hundreds of years compared to his lone decade. And then Buffy died. That destroyed me, and in my loneliness, I grew to hate him. I found the prophecies of Aberjian – promising humanity to a vampire with a soul, and I tried to be worthy of that. But the End of Days came and I remained a vampire – my sire was dead and still he denied me my reward! And in a moment of intense jealousy, I went on a rampage, destroying all records that my sire had ever been good. And then I withdrew into myself, helping the fighters that arose but never doing anything myself – why should I when in the end there was no purpose to it?

And now he's back, and it was because of what I did – I hate poetic justice – and he's rekindled the good in my soul, the need to fight the good fight. I really hate him, but I respect him. And with the current Slayer dead, Angel will need my help to prevent Armageddon from happening again. So I fished a knife out of the rotten sink and cut off my beard and hair, tied them back with string – I have no razor or scissors, so this'll have to do – and used the last of my bleach. Renewed in spirit and appearance, I came to the bookstore, which is where I stand now, awaiting judgement.

Everyone looks at me, except Matt who must be grieving. There's Eve, silently looking exactly like Buffy, which disturbs me more than I can ever let on. I'd hold my breath but for the fact that I don't need to. They have to give me this last chance to prove my virtue, or I'll just crawl back into my shell further and then even Angel won't be able to pull me out again.

"I don't know, Spike," says the young Giles. "You haven't been in a fight for as long as I can remember, you think you can still hold your own?" Oddly enough it's my sire once again who comes to my rescue.

"We don't have any other choice, Edward. Matt's in a funk and I can't do this alone." So they agree to the proposal, tell us where to find the important documents and we work out a plan. I'm going to break in, confront them, giving Angel just enough time to get in, steal something heavily guarded and then we both get out.

Can we say suicide mission?

------------------------------

Matt:

I didn't hear much of what was going on – it all seemed so unreal. Jackie's dead. We've been together for almost three years, and suddenly she's gone. Just like that. I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye. I remember the first time we met as if it was yesterday: I'd been fighting for Ed for a while, more as a defender than as a warrior. I protected people that couldn't defend themselves, from things that they did not understand. If Ed and Rick ever needed someone to infiltrate or attack, they used a Slayer. Spike once explained to me that there used to be a 'Watchers' Council' that constantly looked for and trained potential Slayers. It had been demolished ages ago, probably in the End of Days, but the rituals that they used to find the Slayers had survived in Ed's family, and he used them to find a new Slayer when the old one was killed. Well, one day, he found a Slayer and brought her to the store and when I saw her… my breath was just taken away. Jacqueline was so beautiful, and so confused, new to the calling but willing to do everything in her power to do her duty. Such a perfect soul, the likes of which I had never encountered before, and now I never shall again.

Something tells me the meeting's over, and though I don't know what the resolution of it was, I know that it doesn't involve me. I can't do this anymore, because now my one guiding light has been ripped from me.

Eve walks past the door, and I follow her. She's in the training room where Jackie and I had spent a lot of our time together. There's a bag in the middle of the room, and Eve is diligently putting things into it: stakes, swords and crosses.

"Eve, why are you getting the equipment ready?"

She doesn't answer, just walks over to the cabinet and lifts out my axe. All parts of it have been replaced over the years, but the axe itself has been used by the servants of the Powers That Be for centuries, perhaps longer. Why is Eve taking my axe?

"Eve, what's going on?"

Eve puts the axe into the bag and picks it up, slinging it over one shoulder. She walks up to me and looks into my eyes. She places a hand on my cheek, and smiles a sad smile. Then she walks past me and out into the store.

What was that about?


	7. Part 7

Angel:

Spike's appearance had taken me by surprise. That's not to say that it was a bad thing, I just didn't know what had prompted the change of heart. So I resolved to ask him while walking to the headquarters of the lawyers.

"So," I ask Spike, breaking the silence that stood between us since we left the store, "what changed your mind?"

"You did," he tells me.

"Me?"

"You did some unconscionable things in your time, but you still fight the good fight. I didn't do anything quite as bad as you, but I just didn't care. I did nothing but sit in that room. You showed me that I can still do good things." He stops, even though the building is right in front of us. "Angel…"

"Yeah?"

"In case one of us doesn't make it, there's something I have to tell you." This doesn't sound like the Spike I remember.

"What is it?"

"I need to tell you what happened to Buffy." I stop, the mission temporarily forgotten, just listening. "It was my fault. I killed her." I can't believe it. "You don't know what it's like watching loved ones grow old and die, you weren't good long enough. She was growing old, and I couldn't stand it. I tried to turn her into a vampire."

"H-how could you?"

"But she wouldn't drink – the Slayer instinct prevented it – and she just bled and bled and bled. She died, right there in my arms, and I couldn't save her." Why is he telling me this now? "I couldn't live with myself, so I detached myself from the world, emerging to kill demons and protect people. I wasn't a part of the world, and it was destroying me."

"What happened?"

"Eventually I found someone else, a man named Jason, and we became friends. He pulled me out of my reverie, just as you've done. For years we fought side by side, he made me believe in humanity."

"What happened to him?"

"He got sick and, I don't know why, I tried again… I tried to turn him into a vampire."

"You killed him too?"

"Yes… but he came back. I thought that maybe, just maybe, as I had a soul, he'd have one too. But he didn't, he was just like any other vampire. I couldn't be around him, knowing that I'd unleashed him on the world, so I just locked myself back in that small room and stayed miserable. For a while I still emerged to fight evil, but then the End of Days rolled around. I thought I'd get to be human, but it didn't happen, and I lost it. I destroyed you, and then I just stopped. I told young fighters about the past, about before the End of Days, but I never fought again."

We just stood their in the darkness for a long while, neither of us attempting to move towards the building that held all our answers. Eventually, Spike spoke again.

"You know, I've kept that a secret from everyone for the better half of a millennium. It feels good to get it out in the open." I still said nothing. "Let's get started."

------------------------------

Gene:

My bosses weren't happy when Angel got away. They'd pumped a lot of resources into the project… our last stand, so to speak… and they'd put me in charge. And I'd let him get away. Lucky that my dear friend Matthias had already cut off my forearm or they probably would have done it for him. I've had people searching for him, but frankly the city is huge, and if he has any sense he'd have got out as soon as possible. We'll probably never see him again. So now I'm in the boss' office, trying to explain my failure.

I'm in the middle of apologising yet again, when an alarm goes off. There must be an intruder in the building. Matt… I follow the others out of the room and to the security centre. There's an image of a man on the monitors, with a blond ponytail and tied beard. I don't know him, but by the reaction of the little shaman in the room I can only guess that it's a vampire. No problem. He doesn't stand a chance.

I pick up a phone. "Inform Jericho that we have a job for him."

------------------------------

Spike:

There are guards in the room before I've even done anything. This is going to get dull if they make it too easy for me. Some of them have guns, which just goes to show how ignorant they are. Three go down in no time, and I rush through the room. Five more hit the ground; one of them's bleeding quite badly. I have to get out of the lobby, pretend I'm going for something inside the building, make them follow me. Only then will Angel be able to sneak in. I spin around, my foot knocking another guard back. Guns are going off but the bullets keep missing. As long as I keep moving, I'll get through this.

I'm out of the lobby, and suddenly things are more interesting. The guards here seem to know what I am. They've got crosses and stakes, and they're attacking me in hand to hand. Block to the right, spin the guy on my back into the three advancing from the left. These people have spent so long fighting newly sired vampires that they can't handle one my age.

Suddenly I realise what they're doing, they're throwing people at me, herding me into a room. And before I can react, they've shut the door behind me.

I'm in a bare room, and I'm not alone. There's someone else in here with me.

"Spike? Is it you?"

"Jason? What are you doing here?"

"I was told to deal with an intruder. I guess that's you."

"Are you going to? I guess I'm not surprised."

"You're not surprised? How can you say that? Oh, that's right, you left. You saw what you'd turned me into and couldn't handle it." He's right, isn't he? I never really gave him a chance.

"I'm sorry. I should have stayed, I should have taught you to fight the hunger, to be good. Will you let me make it up to you?" He doesn't say anything, and just looks at me as if debating with himself whether he can let himself trust me again.

"Come with me now," I persist. "We'll fight the good fight together. You can make a difference."

Suddenly something tears into my back – are they shooting at me again? Odd, it doesn't hurt like I remember it. In fact, for the first time in half a millennium I feel no pain at all. I'm not tormented by my awful deeds, by the faces of all those that I struck down. In fact, I'm just nice and warm and… at peace…

------------------------------

Angel:

I don't know what Spike did, but it worked. The guards rushed out of the room and nobody noticed when I walked in. Of course, Edward's clothes probably drew less suspicion than my tattered rags.

I'd thought that even with Spike's diversion, there would be some guards left, but there are none. In fact, the corridors are completely empty. That's worrying. My feet make no noise as I move from shadow to shadow. I have to move fast, or Spike will have no chance to get out. The door to the office opens when I force it. I would have thought they'd have better locks. The documents must be somewhere in this room. They're not on the desk, nor are they in the desk drawers.

There's a cabinet in the corner. I rip off the door, and rifle through the sheets. Here's something. Yes, this looks right. Where, when… and who's attending. This is it. I fold the sheets up and tuck them into my blazer. As I stand up, I hear someone clapping behind me. I slowly turn around, to see Gene standing in the door.

"Bravo. I must say, it was a surprise when we saw you'd used that vampire to get in here, but it was the perfect chance to finish our plan. I'm afraid Jericho is detained this time, but that's okay…" I notice the horde of vampires in the hall behind him "… because you're not getting away again anyway." The vampires advance, and all I have is a single stake.

I fight bravely for a while, throwing one over my head, staking another, and knocking a number of others to the ground. I'm eventually overwhelmed and pulled to the ground, but not before I've single-handedly dusted over a dozen. Some of the vamps hold down my arms, and others sit on my legs, but the one I'm most worried about is the one whose face is descending onto my neck with fangs bared.

Suddenly, before I even realise what's going on, three crossbow bolts fly through the air and three of my captors – including the one on my neck – crumble away. I'm still confused, and there's blood dribbling from my neck, but I can hear the singing of an axe as it decapitates the rest of the vampires pinning me down. I look up, and standing there is the last person I was expecting to see.

"Buffy? …Eve? …What-?"


	8. Part 8

Angel:

I just woke up in a bed, my neck bound in gauze. Nobody's come in yet, so I'm still trying to understand what happened. I'd been bitten by a multitude of vampires. Then I heard crossbows going off, axes swinging, and all the vampires were gone. And who was my saviour? Well, that's the part I'm trying to figure out. It looked like Buffy, who, of course, has been dead for centuries. It's possible she was somehow brought back from the dead. Again. But that's unlikely, especially after such a long time. And that means it could only have been Eve, Matt's little sister, and I've never even seen her stand up for herself. I can't imagine for a minute that it was her.

The door opens, and Edward leans in.

"Oh, you're awake."

"Yeah, I can tellby the pain." He walks in, shutting the door behind him. "What happened? How did I get back here?"

"We really don't know. Nobody knew anything about it until Eve pulled us all into the storefront and there you were, bleeding from the neck and unconscious. So we brought you in here and treated your wound. Don't suppose you can tell us anything?" What should I tell him?

"No, nothing I remember makes any sense. I guess Spike brought me back. Where is he?"

"Never showed up. We think he probably didn't make it." Damn. I wanted to talk to him. "Did you get the information?"

"Yeah," I say, using all my strength to point at the clothes strewn over the chair. "In the jacket pocket." Edward quickly checks, and pulls out the documents.

"Great. This is a big help."

"You're not going to like it," I warn as he leafs through the pages. When he gets to what he's looking for, the smile drops.

"Oh."

------------------------------

Edward:

Well, I suppose the mission was a success. We've lost an ally – a very important ally – in Spike, but we've got the information. So I've gathered the group together, even Angel, who is still covered in bandages, to tell them what we've got. The room seems emptier than usual – Jackie's dead, Matt's grief-stricken and Eve's disappeared somewhere. Still, there are enough people to warrant a briefing.

"I have good news and bad news," I tell them. "Good news is: Angel got us the information telling us where the meeting is taking place." There's some muted cheers and some applause. "Bad news, however, is that it's taking place in Barnett, Clarke and Nicholls headquarters." All applause stops abruptly, and the cheering is replaced by worried murmuring.

"What's the problem?" someone asks. "Angel got in and out."

"Yeah, but look at him."

"And what about Spike? He was the one in the open." In a matter of minutes, the entire meeting devolves into chaos.

After a few long minutes of shouting, the cacophony dies down. Then Matt appears at the door to the back rooms. My God, he looks terrible – his hair is a mess and there are bags under his eyes. Everyone looks up at him, expecting some great motivational speech.

"Has anyone seen Eve?" he asks instead. I shake my head.

"Not for a while, sorry." He strokes his unshaven chin.

"There's something going on with that girl." Angel sits forward in his chair, eyes narrowed.

"What kind of something?" he asks.

"I caught her packing weapons earlier – took my best axe – and now she's just disappeared." Angel slowly pushes himself to his feet.

"Edward," he says, without even looking in my direction. "Carry on with the meeting, will you?" I'm slightly confused, but of course have no reason to doubt him.

"Uhh… sure." Angel walks out, pulling a curious Matt behind him. Nobody has understood what just happened, but I've got my orders.

------------------------------

Matt:

Angel's hiding something from me. Well, he's probably hiding a lot of things, but right now I only care about one. He knows something about my sister – and that's something I'm not willing to take on faith.

"Hey, wait a second," I demand, pulling my arm away and staggering to a halt. "What's going on?" Angel stops, head down.

"I'm not entirely sure," he tells me, which isn't as comforting as I thought it'd be.

"Why don't you get sure?"

"I think – this is going to sound crazy – but I think Eve was the one that got me out of BC&N."

"What? That's crazy!"

"I know! Why do you think I didn't mention it earlier? I don't remember much, but I remember being pinned down by vampires. Then someone saved me, dusted every last one of them. And there was Buffy." Okay, something here doesn't add up.

"Buffy? The vampire Slayer? So why do you think Eve was there?"

"Because Buffy's dead, and Eve looks exactly like her. What, did you think I was chasing her earlier because I'd lost it?" The thought had crossed my mind.

"Eve looks exactly like Buffy? Why didn't Spike ever say anything?"

"It would have given the wrong impression. What would you have done if he told you that your sister looked exactly like someone he'd had sex with?"

"When you put it that way…" Angel turns away again.

"Come on, I want to get to the bottom of this."

After searching in and around the headquarters for quite a while, we eventually find Eve in one of the weapon storage rooms. She's facing away from us, as if looking for something, though what it is I cannot fathom. The lights are out inside, but as we open the door the light from the hallway floods in, projecting our silhouettes onto the back wall. I just watch as Angel steps into the room.

"Eve?" She doesn't move. "Are you okay?" He's standing right behind her and still she hasn't moved. Then she turns to face him; I can see lights shining on her tears. She raises a hand and strokes his face, her mouth opening and shutting as if she's trying to speak but no words will come out. Then

"A… Angel…" I can't believe it. In almost twenty years she hasn't uttered a word. Why now to this virtual stranger?

"Buffy?" She shuts her tear-filled eyes.

"I remember…" Her voice, at first raspy, is now smoother, more beautiful. Since childhood I've wondered what her voice would sound like, and now I know. "Since before I can remember I've seen… visions. Horrific murders, vampires, all manner of demons… They were just flashes at first, so horrible that I couldn't stand them, and then they started weaving themselves together. I knew who I was… and I wasn't Eve. And, terrible as the blood and killing was, it was nothing compared to what came next…" My God, what had my sister had to endure? "Next I saw you." What? What did he do? "You have no idea what it's like, being so young yet remembering giving yourself to a man and have a demon in his skin torment you until you are forced to send him to hell. When he comes back for you, you think, just for a moment, that it's going to be okay, but then he leaves again and he doesn't want you. Years later he comes back, but it's not him, it's the demon again, and the worst thing about it is the thought that someone gave him a moment of happiness and it wasn't _me_!" The tears dripping down her cheeks become a torrent, and she collapses into Angel's arms. I think Angel is as dumbstruck as I am right now. Eve… Buffy… and Angel sink to their knees, and I hold onto the door post for support. "Compared to that," she continues softly, "this life was nothing but a dream."

None of us can handle this piece of information being out in the open. All we can do is sit and stare.


	9. Part 9

Buffy:

There, I've said it. For the greatest part of my life, I've been reliving my old life over and over again, questioning myself. Was I insane? Why was I seeing these things? Nothing seemed real anymore – how could things change so much? – so I didn't interact with anything. Sure I carried out mundane tasks when asked, but I always felt as if I was floating. These people around me, some of them treat me as if I'm not even there. It made it easier for me somehow. And then _he_ came back.

Spike's been here forever, pretty much, but he never commented on my appearance. He never even looked at me funny, odd if he and I had truly been as intimate as he likes to claim. But Angel… Angel was different. He shows up out of nowhere and he sees who I am, begs me to recognise him. He was the first person that forced me to become a part of the world again. He saved me. It wasn't the first time, and I doubt that it will be the last.

But now that I've told him – and Matt, who's looked out for the false me since birth – and now that my tears have subsided, I need to know how he'll deal with the knowledge. What will become of us now? Before I can speak, he whispers into my hair "Oh Buffy" then bends his neck and kisses me, just softly. How long have I been waiting for him to do that again?

"Oh, Buffy," he says again. "No one could ever make me happy but you."

"Then how…?"

"It was a spell – a cure, I suppose – designed to break the curse. I think they wanted me to destroy the world, and instead the humanity I'd been nurturing affected me. I couldn't rest until I was cleansed of it all. I killed Faith, turned on my friends, even chasing them to Sunnydale. And once there, I saw you. You rekindled my passion, and I knew, more than anything else, that I had to have you. So, the game began again, and it continued until Spike staked me. I'm so sorry." He pulls me close again, and I'm lost in the furious beating of his heart and the warmth of his skin. Still, there's something he's keeping from me. For now, I'll keep quiet. In time, perhaps we'll trust each other enough to dispense with such secrets.

After a while, he asks me,

"What now?" I look into his deep, dark eyes and smile.

"Now? Now we save the world."

------------------------------

Edward:

This was unexpected. Angel and Eve – well, I guess that's Buffy now – walked in on the meeting. Both had clearly been crying, which was odd. Matt was behind them, his face frozen into a ghastly, surprised stare. Everyone looked up at them, the business at hand suddenly forgotten, and as one we asked what had happened. And, to everyone's amazement, it was Eve – Buffy – that answered.

So now there is a silence descended on the room as each of us tries to come to grips with this news. Angel and Buffy, who are coping with it much better than everybody else, are remaining quiet for our sakes. After a time, I realise that we've been here for too long. The clock is ticking, and we have to put this to one side while we deal with more pressing matters.

"Okay," I say, firmly enough to make all the people in the room turn. "We don't have a lot of time left, and we still need a plan. We need to get into BC&N, disrupt the meeting and prevent a union _and_ get our people…" Suddenly Buffy interrupts.

"No," she says. She has certainly become more assertive now that she's found her voice. "We tried that already and it didn't work. No, we need a different plan."

"What are you suggesting?"

"We amass our forces, and attack. Wipe out every one of them." Silence. Then somebody says

"Are you insane? That's suicide."

"So is sneaking in and out. The difference is my way could work. We're going to declare war." There's some more silence, though this time I'm sure people are thinking about what's been said.

"We'd need help," someone points out.

"And we would need to know exactly where in the building it's taking place."

"Perhaps I can be of some assistance." We all spin around and there standing in the doorway to the shop floor is the last person I wanted to see.

Jericho.

------------------------------

Jericho:

They don't look pleased to see me. Understandable. I've tried to kill some of them so often that they'd naturally find it hard to trust me. But I have to make them trust me, because I've just realised something: I'm on the wrong side. These people have a cause. They fight for that cause, but most of all, they fight with honour. The people I work for, they've never fought with honour. For example, I'm in the middle of a duel and they shoot the person that I'm fighting, with wooden bullets no less. I don't think these people would ever do that, and it took the death of one of them to make me understand.

"What are you doing here?" says the oldest-looking one of them, the man I think is called Edward.

"I've come to join you."

"Oh, yeah? Why should we believe you?"

"I know I've done some terrible things," I tell them. "But I don't like to kill people if it isn't necessary and I don't want the world to end any more than you do. A friend of mine once told me that the only way to feel good about yourself is to stand up for what you believe in. To fight the good fight, whatever way you can. Well now it's time for me to take a stand." Some of them don't believe me, fine, but Angel is looking at me in wonderment.

"You're Jason," he says, more a statement than a question. I smile.

"Yes, the only childe of a vampire with a soul."

"Spike said you were just like any other vampire."

"Not all souls are perfect, mine just took this long to do what was right. Let's call it… an epiphany." He smiles and nods.

"I guess there's a vampire with a soul for every End of Days. How about that?"

So, begrudgingly and at Angel's constant urging, they allow me to remain for the meeting and to explain in great detail what I know of the building.

"There are innocent people inside," I remind them. "They don't know what's going on there any more than most people on the streets know about demons. I don't want them hurt."

"They won't be," Buffy promises. "As long as they don't try to fight us, we'll leave them alone." We're on our own now, Buffy, Angel, Edward, Matt and myself, though Matt does little except staring into space.

"You know that a lot of your people are going to die, don't you?"

"Yes." Nobody seems cheered at all by that sentiment.

"And we can't do this alone, even with your entire band, we'll be slaughtered as soon as we approach the walls."

"We'll get reinforcements from other fighters world-wide," says Edward. "We can increase our numbers a hundredfold in a matter of days."

* * *

Believe it or not, for all the similarites between this chapter and certain events in Season 7, I did come up with all of this on my own (before Season 7 had even been released).


	10. Part 10

The Observer:

It's D-Day. In the last few days, people have been pouring into this relatively small town from all over the world. The forces of darkness have converged in a foreboding building uptown. And as for the Slayer and her crew, they're preparing themselves in the slums, where I've spent most of my existence. For some reason I always felt more at home among the downtrodden.

The Slayer's surveying the troops, and there are more than I thought there'd be. Well, no, I knew exactly how many there'd be; it just looks like more when they're all standing in one place, you know? There's Angel standing by, a smile on his face. Funny, but I've never actually seen him smile before, and I spent quite a lot of time with him when he had a soul. I like to think I helped him on his righteous path. Anyway, there's Jason and Edward, and I have a feeling that Matt'll be along soon enough.

------------------------------

Matt:

My life is collapsing around me. Eve, the sister that I've protected for as long as she's lived, turns out not to be the person I thought she was. She's not the weak, mute girl I thought, but is instead a warrior from a bygone age, with preternatural strength and uncanny leadership. She was the one I was fighting for, and if she doesn't need protecting then why do I bother? But more than that, more than the loss of a sister, is the loss of my lover. Jackie's dead, and she was the greatest part of me for years. I opened up to her more than any other, and she could understand me to a greater degree than even myself sometimes. We fought side by side, and now there is nobody for me to share my life with.

I left the meeting after the appearance of Jericho. How could they trust a vampire that had for so long been trying to destroy us? For all I know, he may have been the very one that killed Jackie. How do I know what he did to her before her final breath? Oh my god, what if he…?

A voice brings me out of my reverie.

"What have we here? A champion all dressed up with nowhere to go. Shameful." I've been walking in such a daze that I hadn't even realised that there was somebody there until he spoke. I turn to look at him, and I can see that he's a small man, wrapped in loud and dated clothes, leaning against a broken streetlight, clipping his nails.

"What?" I ask, confused by what he's just said. He raises his head to look at me, and I can see his eyes beneath the rim of his small hat. Now that I know he's there, he seems so noticeable, but I could have walked past him a hundred times on the streets without giving him so much as a second glance.

"Your world's turning upside down and you can't handle it."

"What do you know about it?"

"Only that you keep walking and you're eventually gonna hit the Wall. Know what happens when a fly thinks too much while it's trying to get somewhere? Time to get a new perspective. You can keep walking, leave your obligations behind you, or you can see what you had."

"I don't understand." He smiles.

"I know. You get used to it after a while. Come on, I want to show you something." He walks off, and despite myself I follow.

He takes me to the top of a building and we look down onto the streets, at the people walking around, completely oblivious to all that I've fought for and against.

"Look at that," he tells me, nodding at the milling crowds. "Tell me what you see."

"It's people – millions of people living out their lives. They don't understand any more than you do."

"Maybe, but maybe if you look closer you'll see better. The people down there, most of them have loved and lost. God, most of the people you walked out on have gone through exactly the same thing. But they keep fighting; they don't just lie down and die. They carry on with their lives. It's what separates us from them. If you leave, you're not just turning your back on yourself; you're turning your back on everybody that doesn't understand. You do things no normal person could. And if you give up on them, you don't deserve to call yourself a champion. Hey, if you give up, you're not even human."

I look at him. Some of what he said makes sense. Then again, some of it makes no sense at all. He just pats me on the shoulder and starts to walk away.

"I just wonder what your Slayer would have wanted."

------------------------------

Soldier:

I'm in a line up, and there's a petite girl at the front pacing up and down. When I got the call from Edward, I thought something big was going down. But since I've got here, she's just looked at us and said nothing. You know there's something familiar about her, as if I've seen her before but never really _seen_ her. There are some others that I don't recognise, a tall dark man with an instantly likeable demeanour, and a well built man with a mop of blond hair that, despite his obvious good looks, radiates a horrible feeling of mistrust.

All at once, the blonde girl stops walking and just stands still.

"Okay, you all know why you're here," she begins, and is immediately silenced by numerous shouts from the crowd, all of which fervently deny the accusation.

"You don't?" she continues, then turns to Edward who was standing behind her. "How much did you tell them?"

"Not much."

"I gathered," she mutters, so quietly that only those in the first few rows could hear her, then turns back to the group. "You're here because we're going to stop the summit. We're going to destroy BC&N, once and for all." Everyone is just staring at her, all except for the few standing behind her. They're just smirking. They probably had to deal with this the first time it was suggested.

Just then Matt appears. Everyone looks to him. He's a mess, but he seems to be in quite good spirits.

"Matt? Where did you take off to?" asks Edward.

"I needed some time to think. This thing with Jackie… it shook me up. I had to work out some things."

"And?"

"And I've realised something. All this time, I thought I was fighting for Jackie, for Eve, for you. But that was never really it. We're fighting for the people who can't fight for themselves, to protect them from the darkness that exists all around them. We're the guiding light, and if we give up, no one will be there to lead mankind to salvation." The girl looks at him with wide eyes.

"Wow. When did you get all knowy?"

"I met this really weird guy across town. He showed me that I still had something to fight for." The tall dark man looks suspicious for a moment, then asks.

"What did this guy look like?"

"Uh… short, badly dressed. He was kinda obvious yet easily overlooked. Why? Do you know him?"

"I don't know. Maybe." The girl smiles and lays a hand on his arm.

"I'm glad you came back. We can't do this without you." Then she turns back to the ranks. "We can't make you do this, but this is our last shot. The First's lieutenants from around the world are going to be gathered at BC&N, and we can take them all out in one sweep. You know the risks, and you know what we're fighting for. So… everyone willing to do this, take one step…" As one, the army moves forward, and she smiles. Beautiful.


	11. Part 11

The Observer:

The Slayer's army is moving out, moving like a horde through the streets towards their goal. They move like water, flowing between the buildings, engulfing and absorbing the people in their way. Now I've gotta wonder whether they'll wear away the fortress or break on it. I have to hope that they'll destroy the fortress; crack it open in the first wave.

------------------------------

Rick:

I've been Ed's friend for as long as I can remember. My parents died before I ever really got to know them, and it was Ed's father that took care of both of us like his own. He taught us about the good fight, about how we were the chosen few that knew about the things in the dark, and that we were the few chosen to fight them. We have contacts all over the world and, until very recently, I thought we were number one in the demon fighting business. And then Angel appeared. We've allied ourselves with a man who was the most feared demon on the planet for over a hundred years. And let's not forget Jericho, the vampire that has actually been trying to kill us since our childhood.

This is our one last chance, and yet I feel like I'm betraying everything that Alistair Giles taught me. I look over to Ed walking forward and try to figure out if he's thinking the same thing. But I can't. I can't understand him at all any more. Maybe he's adjusting to this better than I am.

Or maybe it's killing him.

------------------------------

Edward:

This is all wrong. I keep running it over and over in my mind. Am I doing the right thing? What am I doing? I was the head man, and I thought I was doing quite well. But then these ancient warriors appear out of nowhere and I can see for the first time that I know nothing about fighting evil. Should I be letting these demons help? Can I do anything about it?

For decades, warriors for the Powers That Be looked to me for guidance – well, me and Spike. And it was because we had roots in the past. Spike was there, fighting evil for centuries. And my family had been demon hunters for almost as long. But they never knew any more than I did, did they? Everything I've known is wrong. Not all demons are evil, well that'll take some getting used to. Keeping secrets isn't helping anyone; it's just giving the First a world to prey on.

I keep telling myself to speak up, to say something against this atrocity. Jericho – the first lieutenant of BC&N – is practically leading the way! How much sense does that make? None! I have to say something.

But the army won't listen to me any more. No, they're listening to the warriors that died fighting over half a millennium ago. And one of them is Matt's kid sister. I can't imagine what he must be going through.

------------------------------

Matt:

Everyone dies. Slayers die. Jackie is dead. And Buffy is dead. And yet here she is, leading our troops in the great climactic battle that will determine the fate of the entire world.

Sweet Eve, she was so innocent. I can hardly imagine that my sweet and pure little sister is now the greatest Slayer that there has ever been. And I can't believe that she always has been. I'm so proud of her, even though I know it wasn't anything that I did that allowed her to change. No, she did that all by herself – with a little help from the man she loves.

She reminds me so much of Jackie. I remember the first time I saw her, so new to the world of demons, so scared of what awaited her. Of course, I was relatively new as well. My parents had both died a couple of years beforehand, both under mysterious circumstances and both – according to the coroners' reports – of massive blood loss. Edward's people managed to dust the vampires before they could claim Eve or me, and showed us what the world was like. I had taken up the axe that day, and sworn that nobody would ever suffer loss as I had. It was a naïve sentiment, I know that now, but it is still one that I try to uphold. For two years I endured rigorous self-torture, training myself to be able to protect my sister, and then Jackie appeared.

I had heard of the Slayers, even seen a few, but she was something else, something so pure that I couldn't bear to see her fragile innocence shattered by the monsters that had destroyed my own. So I tried to look out for her, to show her how to fight the demons without forgetting the people. And in turn, she taught me the very same things.

She blossomed, took charge while always caring for the people around her. She never left anyone behind, and on those few occasions when we were separated – for various reasons – we were always reunited again with such passion. We were all but inseparable for over five years.

I wonder if that's how Angel felt with Buffy? He has his Slayer back again. Mine is gone for good. No, not for good, we'll meet again. I know I'll see Jackie again. But not yet.

I'm happy for Angel. And for Buffy.

Really I am.

------------------------------

Angel:

Buffy's back. My god, I can't believe it. I dreamed we'd be reunited, oh how I wanted it. One day I would become human – and now I'm human. Then I would find Buffy and we'd be together, and everything would be perfect.

Well, my work as a vampire is done; Buffy is back in my life after so long. We can be together. The thought has hardly had a chance to surface since I realised she was back. We've hardly even talked.

I have to talk to her, tell her everything. I have to tell her how much I love her, how sorry I am that I did those things to her, and how happy I am that we're together again.

I love her so much. And she's beside me, her spirit drawing my soul to her, drawing forth these legions that are following us. I don't know anyone else who can inspire an army like she does.

She told me once that she knew exactly what I had done because I had done it to her. And she forgave me. I only wonder if she can forgive my tryst with Darla – how can I tell her that I had a son?

Maybe I'll tell her once we're through this.

What if we never get through this?

------------------------------

The Army:

We're stopping, and every one of us stares up at the building. We've arrived, and suddenly we all are shocked into the realisation that this is actually happening.

We're going to do this. We're going in.

And we're going to win, once and for all.

------------------------------

The Observer:

For most of them, this will be the biggest and most important battle they've ever had to face.

For a select few, this will be nothing compared to what's come before – or what has yet to come.


	12. Part 12

Guard:

Things are quiet around here, more often that not. Occasionally some rowdy delinquent breaks in and causes a fuss. In fact, only yesterday some guy with bleached hair burst in, ran through the lobby and took down almost ten of my fellow security guards. I just can't believe that even though everyone in the room was firing at him that not a single bullet hit him. And apparently he was stopped by just one guy. What was his name? Jericho?

Ah, speak of the devil, here he is now, walking through the door. I'm surprised he's still here at night – what do they pay that guy? He must be rich.

He's coming over to me, a charming smile on his face. So why does that send shivers down my spine?

"Cameron!" he calls – he knows my name! – and approaches me.

"Yessir?" I ask, trying to be as casual as possible.

"How much do you need this job?" I'm confused – I have to say that I hadn't expected such an odd question.

"I don't know what you mean, sir."

"Why do you do this job? Is it the money?"

"Well… I guess I just like to think that I'm helping someone in some small way." He smiles.

"You're a good man," he says. I can't remember him ever being so open with anyone. "That's why I need you to leave. Right now."

"What?" Is he asking me to leave my post?

"Round up all the men on watch. Take as many of them as are willing to leave and get out of the building. Take a night off, go home, spend time with your loved ones. Are you married?"

"Yes, sir, with three children…"

"Go to them. And go quickly."

I move in a daze, rounding up my companions and herding them out of the door, still unsure what I'm doing or why. None of them understand either, but I'm well trusted and they do as I say without question.

I emerge from the double doors onto the street and stop, because suddenly I understand. There's a ring around the building – a ring of people, many carrying torches and other light sources. They have us surrounded, and for a moment I think we'll be massacred where we stand. Then, without a word, the horde moves aside and a hole opens up in the wall of people. They're giving us a way out, and I'm going to take it.

I only hope I'm doing the right thing.

------------------------------

Angel:

Jason has just gone into the building to get the innocents out before the battle. The rest of the army is waiting, encircling the building like jackals. In this deathly calm, I have a chance to clear the air.

"Buffy," I whisper, and she looks up at me. "In case we don't make it out again, there's something I want to tell you…" She smiles, and lifts a finger to my lips.

"Shh…" she soothes. "Tell me afterwards. We'll make it out again, you'll see."

I really love this girl.

------------------------------

Soldier:

I clutch my gun to me as I prepare myself for the coming struggle. We're just standing here, forming a ring around the building so that nothing can get out. In seconds we'll all charge in, but apparently they're sending in Jericho to get out the civilians. I've never met the man, but apparently some of the guys in charge don't trust him. Some of the people behind me are saying that they're only allowing Jericho to go in because of Angel, the tall dark one. He must be very trusting.

The doors open, and a crowd of guards emerge. I wonder if they're going to try and attack us all on their own, but then remember the order. We let the civilians go. So we all move closer together, opening a hole for them to escape. And they seem perfectly happy to make a run for it.

Once they've passed, we close up the line again, and my thoughts drift back to the girl on the stage. Once this is over, I have to find out who that was.

A shout draws me from my reverie.

"Mr Finn! Get your squad ready!" That's my cue…

"Ready! Arm! Charge!"

------------------------------

The Observer:

They're in. Now the game starts for real.

------------------------------

Gene:

The alarm's sounding! I was busy debriefing Simone in my office, when suddenly the alarm went off. So, we rushed to the security office as fast as was possible, just in time to see Jericho ordering the security guards to leave. Now we're waiting to see what happens next. We can't afford to have anything go wrong while the summit is in progress, but there's not a lot we can do from here.

Suddenly, bricks and various other blunt objects smash through the windows in the lobby and a horde pours into the building through the double doors.

"They'll destroy everything," I whisper, despite myself, and rush to the summit. I have to warn them.

Unfortunately, it's a long way through the cavernous corridors, and before I can get to the meeting room, I'm waylaid by an old enemy.

"Gene…"

"Matt…"

------------------------------

Matt:

The horde is streaming into the building, entering every room, destroying anything in its way. Being at the head, I set off in search of my own prey. And it's not long before I find him.

"Gene…" I hiss, with as much menace as I can muster.

"Matt…" He seems surprised to see me. Well, I would be too, I suppose.

We stand for a moment, facing each other across the corridor. Then he pulls himself up to his full height, trying to retain his composure.

"It's time for payback, is it?" My knuckles turn white as I grip my axe tighter.

"We trusted you, Gene."

"No, _you_ trusted me. The others knew all along that I would turn on you. I really should thank you. If not for you, I never would have been able to steal the Scroll of Aberjian from Edward's vault."

"Is that it? You infiltrated our group just so you could steal an old scroll? I thought you were more important than that."

"Well, I did use the opportunity to do a little recon. By the way, how did your girlfriend's little mission go?" My eyes go wide, my blood freezes in my veins. That was how Jackie was ambushed… Gene found out where she was going and they were ready for her… and I let him into the group. It's my fault… but I'll not forget his role in this. He's not getting away this time. He laughs at my expression of horror. He really has no soul, does he? "Plus, you underestimate the value of the scroll. It was key to bringing Angel back from beyond."

"Oh, and we know that worked really well for you." He shrugs. He's remarkably cool for someone about to be killed, and I'm sorely tempted to do just that. Of course, maybe I'll just take his other arm.

"I'll admit we had some setbacks. But there's the beauty of it. You do-gooders are always so willing to take in outsiders. It was really no trouble to get someone inside, someone who could finish what I started."

What? No…

------------------------------

Angel:

I'm running so fast, getting to the room that Jericho pointed out on his hastily drawn map, that I've lost sight of everyone. Everyone, that is, except one person that has managed to keep pace with me.

"How are you keeping up?" I call over my shoulder as the carnage rages all around me.

"Fine," replies Jericho. "Just fine."


	13. Part 13

Matt:

Angel's in trouble, I have to get there before it's too late. There he is, and Jericho's right behind him. They're moving fast, dodging and weaving between the fighters and the flying weapons, vaulting over fires.

"Angel!" I call out, as loud as I can, hoping that he can hear me over the noise. They both stop in their tracks and look over at me. I'm pretty sure that normal humans would have been unable to hear me, but of course neither of them is a normal human.

I catch up to them, waving my axe threateningly towards Jericho.

"Angel, get away from him." He looks at me, confused for a moment. Then he looks at Jericho, who looks back at him and shrugs. Then he looks at me again.

"Why?"

"He's lying to us. He doesn't want to be on our side, he's just using it as a cover so he can turn you."

"And where did you hear that?" Well…

"Gene told me."

"When?" asks Jericho.

"Just a second ago. I cornered him in the hall."

"And when he told you this, what did you do with him?"

"I… uh…" Damn. I sigh. "I let him go. Argh, he tricked me!"

"He does that," agrees Jericho. "But he'll probably have been heading to the summit. Which way was he going?"

------------------------------

Buffy:

Fires are springing up all over the building, spreading like… well, like wildfire. Nobody seems to notice, not even the sprinkler system that I noticed last time I was here. I guess it doesn't really work. Then again, it may not even be a sprinkler system. I suppose some things must be different after a thousand years, give or take.

I've been separated from everyone, but that's okay, because I think I know where I'm going. I vault over the duellists on the stairs and land running. My bet is that the summit is on the top floor. The big meeting is always on the top floor. So I hit the main stairwell and just keep running. It's taking a while, and due to the battle it's requiring a huge amount of acrobatics. Still, I'm making progress. There are less patches of flame up here, and the sounds of carnage are no longer deafening. Then again, maybe I've just gone deaf.

I hope the others are doing okay as well.

------------------------------

Matt:

"You sure he came from down there?" asks Angel when I point out where I confronted Gene just a short while ago.

"Yeah, why?"

"Because there's a stairway down there. Wherever he was going, it was on this floor." He points in the other direction. "And he was going this way?"

"I think so."

Jericho draws his twin swords – short but, as I've seen first hand, highly effective. "Guess we're going that way too," he says and walks off, following Gene's tracks.

------------------------------

Buffy:

I didn't think the building was this tall. I haven't reached the top floor yet. Then again, I can't actually see the top floor when I look up. Nor can I see the ground if I look down. And there aren't any doors. Damn. It's no wonder there weren't any lawyers on the stairs; they must have known this was going to happen.

They've sealed off the stairs, and I'm trapped.

------------------------------

Angel:

We're trying to work out where Gene went, pushing away through the flaming debris and combatants. I can smell him, but he's been all over this building, so that's no real help. Suddenly, something grabs my attention.

There's a door on my left, and I could swear…

"Did anyone else hear that?" Matt and Jason look at me blankly.

"Hear what?"

I walk over to the door. The handle doesn't work. Locked.

I step back, take a deep breath, and kick.

------------------------------

Buffy:

There's a crash, and just ahead of me a door flies open. Which is odd, because a second ago there was no door there. And now there always has been. I don't know who it is, and frankly it doesn't matter. I rush to the opening and look at the figure silhouetted in the doorframe.

And then I smile, because I know this person will keep me safe.

------------------------------

Gene:

I managed to get rid of Matt for a while. I half-wish that he'd kill that traitor Jericho, but I'm smart enough to realise that they'll both be right behind me.

I ran to the meeting room, and now I'm trying to tell the bosses what's going on, and forming a plan to get us all out of here. There are people here from all over the globe. Most of them are humans, some aren't. That British man sitting in the corner gives me the creeps.

Damn, for the most influential people in the world they move slowly.

There's a crash and the doors break open. One even falls off its hinges. Angel is standing in the door, flanked by Matt on one side and Jericho on the other.

I'm dead.


	14. Part 14

Buffy:

Okay, this is weird… more so than most things in my life. When I was Eve, there were just three people that cared for me in the entire world. There was my brother, Matt. He's sweet, really, and he looked out for me just like older brothers are supposed to, but he never really knew me. I suppose no-one did for that matter.

There was Edward, who raised us both as his own. He took care of all of the basic things that neither of us really understood. He fed us and he clothed us, he taught us about the world. But he had a mission, he had a world to save, and I was nothing more than his protectee.

And then there was Jackie. Of the three, she was the only one who really cared for me, who understood who and what I was… perhaps it was that bond that Slayers have. I wonder if she ever dreamt about my past life. I don't doubt that others loved me in their own way, but she was the only one who showed it. And now she's dead. Or we thought she was dead. It turns out that she's actually standing right in front of me. I guess that isn't as weird as I made out. Resurrection isn't exactly unheard of with us Slayers. What I want to know is why.

"How are you alive?" I ask, once we get moving again. Somehow she knows where the summit is being held, so she's taking me there. "We all thought you were dead."

"Not quite dead," she tells me. "I was bitten, that's true, but the one given the task of killing me was none other than our recent turncoat, Jericho. Wait a minute, why are you talking?"

"I finally had something I needed to say."

"I mean, sometimes when I was with you, I thought that you were speaking to me, even if it wasn't in words."

"So Jericho saved you?"

"Yeah, you could say that. So how's Matt, is he okay?"

"He's doing well."

"Oh, good. That's good. It's this way," and she sets off down another hall.

"How did Jericho manage to convince everyone that you were dead?"

"He bit me, drained quite a bit of blood, then told me to stay down until the room was empty. How did you get stuck in that stairwell anyway?"

"It just kind of locked me in." Suddenly, I stop. "Why are you here, anyway? Surely the first thing you would have done is gone back to the bookstore, but we never saw you there."

"Well, I saw you…"

"And you can't have joined us as we came here because there were people who knew you all over that group, and someone would have seen you. There was plenty of time while we were waiting outside the building for you to have reached one of us on the frontline. Which means the only possibility is that you were here first, and that means…" Suddenly, Jackie's smile falls away and her eyes become cold as ice.

"So you finally figured it out. You always were slow."

"You're still dead."

"I wanted to kill you with Matt watching, but I guess I'll just have to finish you now. Shame really, me telling him isn't really going to have the same effect as him watching the life fade from your eyes. You know, I could show him the body. That ought to get some reaction."

"You may be in for a surprise," I warn her, raising the sword that I brought with me.

"We'll see about that," says the creature that had once been my friend as she vamps out. Jackie snarls and charges.

------------------------------

Angel:

Pandemonium breaks out in the summit room. We hardly have to do anything. These so-called leaders are running around like headless chickens. One of them, hidden by shadows in the corner, even jumps out of the window. And we are a very long way up. One or two think they can take us but we set them straight quickly. The only one that is perfectly calm is Gene, standing staring at us in the middle of the room.

Without warning, Jericho charges headlong into the centre of the room, swinging his daggers in all directions. Bodies hit the ground and blood soaks into the carpet. Some even sprays across Gene's cheek and still he stares at me. I'm not sure what he wants, but I know we've got to stop this. Jericho is killing humans. Evil humans, but they're still humans. I rush forward as he stands behind Gene, his fangs evident now as he bends to drink. Matt just looks on in horror and Gene continues to stare impassively.

My fist connects with Jericho's face just as his teeth break the skin, and a trickle of blood runs down his collar. There was a time when I would have had to fight the urge not to give into bloodlust. Now I have to fight the urge to vomit. Gene moves for the first time, wiping the blood away with his left hand then staring at it glistening on his fingers. There is something imitating surprise on his face. But I'm not watching him, I'm just standing over Jericho, wondering how he could have done this terrible thing. As far as I can tell there are only three people left alive in this room.

"What are you doing?" I scream at him.

"I'm doing what we came here to do."

"We didn't come here to kill people."

"How else was this going to work? You expected that you'd just show up and they'd admit defeat? This is war, your Slayer said that herself. In war you expect a few casualties."

"I thought you cared about honour. What honour did you do these people?"

"These people did not deserve honour. They would not have shown it to any of us if the situation was reversed."

"Honour isn't about deserving it, or earning it! It's about doing the right thing, no matter what the outcome, what the circumstance. If you don't understand that, you don't have any honour. You don't have a soul."

"What do you mean I don't have a soul? I helped you!"

"Spike helped before he got a soul, but he was still evil. Just because you want to do the right thing doesn't mean you can. Not yet."

"Not yet?"

"I can't kill you, not even for doing this, it wouldn't be just. But there's this little thing I know about vengeance. Soon, you'll understand why what you just did is wrong. Then maybe you'll know what honour really is."

------------------------------

Buffy:

I've fought a lot of powerful enemies in my day: vampires, demons, robots, even a god. Some were stronger than me, some weren't. Jackie, now that she's turned, is strong. She's exactly a match for me, just as strong and just as fast. No sooner have I gained the advantage than she gains it back again. And that's strange for a few reasons. One, she's a vampire, and most vampires that I've ever fought are pretty weak compared to most demons. Angel was strong, but he was Angel, and the Master was powerful, but he was thousands of years old. Jackie is newly made, and she can still match me, blow for blow. I guess that's what happens when a Slayer is turned. And if she's this strong now, what will she be like when she gets old?

I can't win this here and now. I have to retreat. I'll fight this battle again on my own terms, and then we'll see.

As I turn and run she stops and shouts after me,

"Run, little Eve! Run now and watch as I kill all your precious innocents. Run and know that you could not save them! Give my love to Matt!"

I didn't realise I had come off so badly in that fight. There's an open wound on my leg, and I can't feel my arm. And I'm having trouble keeping my eyes open.

Why am I so tired?


	15. Part 15

The Observer:

The battle was won, if you can call it a victory. The summit was broken up and the building all but destroyed, but at a great cost. Many people died, and the Slayer was mortally wounded in a fight with a very powerful enemy. They've earned a respite, but if they think their troubles are over, then they are seriously mistaken.

I think it's about time that I made an appearance.

------------------------------

Angel:

I'm afraid. I don't admit that to many people, but it's true. Since the discovery of Jericho's not-soul, things have only become worse. We found Buffy on the way out, bleeding terribly and unresponsive. She's been unconscious since we brought her back. Gene and Jericho are both imprisoned in our makeshift brig, but all I can keep thinking is while we were breaking up the summit of panicked, wannabe big bads, she was fighting the real battle somewhere else. What could have the strength to do this to a Slayer, to her? Please wake up.

------------------------------

Matt:

Getting information out of Gene is like extracting blood from a stone, except less fun. He swears blind that he has no idea what it was that beat Buffy to a bloody pulp, but he looks so calm when he says it that I don't trust him. I couldn't trust him again anyway, but that's not the point. The point is that something nearly killed my sister, and he knows something he's not telling. Jericho claims he doesn't know either, and despite not having a soul, he at least wants to be good, so I'm slightly more disposed towards him.

Gene staring at me from his cage is starting to annoy me, and I've been trying to find out what he knows for over an hour now with no luck. I sigh, and walk upstairs. Maybe Angel will have better luck.

------------------------------

Gene:

I've been locked in this cage for a couple of days now, I think. It's hard to tell, since there are no windows in this room and I can't see daylight. I guess that's because I share the room with Jericho, who is locked up in a slightly larger cage in the opposite corner. Every so often someone comes down to interrogate me, but they're real amateurs. One of them just stared at me, and being the king of calm, he ran away whimpering after not too long. One promised me lots of comforts if I helped him, but not being in a position of any kind of power, I doubted his ability to provide them. Matt, who's just now given up, all he did was ask me straight out. How did we lose to these people?

Ah, now Angel's here. He looks tired. To my surprise, there are keys in his hand and he opens the door. Standing back he motions for me to get out of the cage. I hold back for a moment.

"What is this?" I ask hesitantly.

"Come on, quickly, before I change my mind." So I walk out of the little prison.

"Well, it's been a blast," I tell him, "but now I really must be going." I walk for the stairs.

"Oh, Gene, one more thing," he says from behind me.

"Yeah?" I prompt, turning to face him.

"Changed my mind," and before I can react, his fist collides with my jaw. I don't even remember hitting the ground.

When I come to, I'm tied to a chair in a darkened room and all I can see is Angel sitting on another chair in front of me. This is worrying.

"What's going on?"

"I'm going to torture you," he tells me, as if that was painfully obvious. "See, I may not have a demon anymore, but I remember exactly how deep every cut should go, exactly which body parts are expendable. It may not give me quite as much enjoyment as it used to, but don't think that I'll do it with any less fervour."

"I told you I don't know anything." He sighs.

"Well that's a shame. I really didn't want to have to do this. You know some of the tools they've got here are so blunt that they won't cut cleanly any more. Oh well, never mind. Shall we get started?" And he approaches me with the rustiest knife I've ever seen.

"Please," I sob, tears flowing down my cheeks for the first time in years, "I don't know anything, I swear. Please don't…"

Suddenly I can hear sniggering and the lights come on. We're still in the basement, and Jericho is watching from his cell, laughing at my plight.

"I believe you," Angel says, picking up the chair I'm sitting on and throwing it back into the cell, with me still tied to it.

"Angel," asks Jericho as Angel locks my door again, "you wouldn't really have tortured him, would you?" Angel just stares at him. I can't see his face, but Jericho actually flinches, so I know it can't be pleasant.

Suddenly, someone appears at the top of the stairs,

"She's awake!" he calls, and Angel is gone in the blink of an eye.

------------------------------

Buffy:

I don't understand. How was I so badly beaten? Did she have a weapon that she was concealing? I guess right now it doesn't matter, but thinking about it… about anything… takes my mind off of the pain that my whole body is inflicting on me. I think I prefer unconsciousness.

I open my eyes, squinting because of the light – even my eyes hurt – and look up to see Matt sitting by me, forehead resting on his hands.

"Matt?" I choke out. He looks up at me, such happiness in his eyes.

"Eve?" he asks, taking my hand in his. He turns his head and says something to someone else that I cannot hear.

I wince as my head pounds again, and he moves closer, brushing a hand over my forehead.

"Are you okay?" he asks, the worry evident in his voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Where's Angel?"

"I'm right here," says Angel, who has somehow appeared on the other side of the bed.

"Hey," I say weakly, smiling up at him, and I can see in his eyes that he's exhausted.

"Hey," he smiles back, trying to hide his own pain to ease mine.

"I told you we'd make it out, didn't I?" That elicits a laugh, even though it sounds quite forced.

"You did, that's right. We made it out." There is a pause, as he tries his hardest not to look at me. "Buffy, I know it's hard, but we need to know what did this to you." I know I have to tell them, but Matt won't take it well.

"It… it was Jackie." As expected, Matt freezes up on my left.

"No…" he whispers to the world.

"She was a vampire."

"But, no," muses Angel aloud. "That doesn't make any sense. Spike said that Slayers won't drink blood, that the Slayer instinct prevents it. How could she have been turned?"

"I don't know," I admit, "but before I realised, she said that it was Jericho that had saved her." Without a word, Matt stands up and walks towards the basement, his eyes burning. On the way, he grabs his axe and hefts it into both hands, his stride unbroken. Angel leans forward and kisses me on the forehead.

"I'll be back in a minute," he promises then takes off after Matt at a run.

------------------------------

Jericho:

Okay, I thought I was pretty safe in here until they figure out what to do with me. Edward's supposed to be looking for an ancient spell to restore my soul. Those thoughts were shattered when Matt opened the cage door and came at me with an axe. He caught me off guard, and probably would have killed me, had Angel not grabbed the axe out of his hand suddenly and thrown him out of the cage. My guess is that he still isn't entirely used to his strength, because he can't have meant for Matt to hit the opposite wall, where he sits still rubbing his neck.

"This is not the way," Angel tells him, standing over him, holding the axe just beneath the blade. I wonder for a second if he realises that he's left the cage door wide open, then decide that he probably doesn't and that I'll let it be for now.

"How can you say that?" Matt spits out. "He didn't kill your lover."

"No, but yours almost did." Uh, what?

"What?" mutters Gene from the other cell. Angel kneels down.

"I'm sorry, that was uncalled for. We need to find out what actually happened first." Then he turns back to me, notices the door open and quickly shuts it. "Jericho… Jason… we need to know what you know about Jackie's last mission." I think for a moment.

"There was an ambush. When they arrived, we were ready for them. At the time I thought that I had to disrupt their plans, but I didn't want to kill anyone. So I started a fight with Jackie. She was pretty strong, but I'd had more experience. Everyone was so distracted it gave your people a chance to get away. But I kept getting the advantage, and soon my team would have realised what I was doing, so I got behind her and opened a vein. I wanted to make a show of it, that's all, but her blood was so potent I took too much."

"Then what happened?"

"She was going to die, so I did the only thing I could."

"You sired her…" He looks shocked.

"When no-one was looking, I cut open my wrist and fed her my blood. She was pretty out of it, but eventually she swallowed."

"That doesn't make any sense," mutters Angel. Matt meanwhile, has lost all colour in his face.

"How could you?" he whispers, so that even I can barely hear it.

"I thought since Spike had a soul, and when he sired me he passed it along, that I'd pass my soul along to Jackie as well."

"Except you don't have a soul."

"Yeah, but I didn't know that then."

------------------------------

Buffy:

When Angel and Matt return to my bedside, they both look mortified. Matt looks as if he can't even tell what's going on around him and is just moving on automatic.

"What happened?" I ask.

"It was Jericho…" says Angel. "Jericho turned Jackie to save her."

"But doesn't that mean she should have a soul?"

"No, because Jericho doesn't have a soul. He just thinks he has a soul."

"Oh my god…" All of a sudden, Angel stands up and turns towards the door. "Angel, where are you going?"

"I need answers, and I think I know where I can get them."

"Where?"

"From someone who's been here since the very beginning."

"Who? How are you going to find him?"

"I don't need to find him. He'll come to me."

------------------------------

Angel:

I walk out into the streets. It's raining now, but I don't care. I just take a deep breath and shout as loud as I can.

"Whistler! Show yourself!"


	16. Part 16

Rick:

The aftermath of the battle is almost as difficult as the battle itself. Most people have gone back to their homes. I have to hand it to them, they must have gone to a lot of trouble to get here just for that. Anyway, with the large-scale destruction of the building, it's getting harder and harder to hide everything from the public. Edward doesn't seem to care. I think he'd like it if everything was revealed. But for now he's trying to find a cure for Jericho. Or a curse, I wasn't really paying attention. So, in short, cleanup of the building is left to me.

A lot of files were destroyed in fires, but we're salvaging what we can. There are charms, spells, all sorts of records that we're missing. I've just sent someone to take what we've already found down to the couriers at the doors while I search some more offices.

Did I just hear something? I turn, but can't see anything. There it is again, carried on the wind (there aren't very many windows left).

"Rick…" I turn around again, and illuminated in the door is the last person I expected to see.

"Jackie? No, you can't be real…"

"I'm real," she says, smiling. "Well, sort of."

"What are you?"

"Oh, I'm an avenging spirit." She laughs, just like she always used to.

"What do you want?" I ask, slightly nervously. It's not every day that I talk to someone raised from the dead. What am I talking about, that's exactly what happens every day.

"See, I have this problem," she says, hands clasped behind her back and strolling forward. "Because this vampire – maybe you know him – killed me the other day, and not one person tried to stop him. Why do you think that is?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"Of course you did, you were there."

"I couldn't do anything." She's behind me now, and I'm so ashamed that I can't bear to look at her.

"You killed me, Dick. Now allow me to repay the favour." There's a snarl, and a sharp pricking in my neck. Oh, wow.

------------------------------

Angel:

"Whistler!" I shout to the skies. "Show yourself."

"That's quite a pair of lungs you've got on you," says a voice from the shadows on the other side of the street, and Whistler, my old mentor, moves into the light.

"Yeah, that's one of the benefits of being human: they get plenty of exercise."

"I wouldn't know, would I?"

"You know, I knew it was you. You helped Matt get his bearings."

"The kid looked so forlorn. Kind of like you did, only he wasn't the one who had killed his girlfriend."

"Neither did I."

"Well you get my point."

"You've been watching events played out for millennia, haven't you?"

"Just as a middle man. The guys upstairs don't trust me with the big jobs, just the important ones."

"Right. I take it you're the one that's responsible for me keeping my strength after being raised by BC&N."

"Look I'm just a messenger. As a rule I don't get involved." I just glare at him. "Well, except with you." I continue to glare. "And with Matt."

"So why have I still got my strength? Why is Buffy here? And it can't be coincidence that the leader of our little group here is called Giles, can it?"

"Whoa, so many questions. Angel man, you know better than anyone that I can't just go around answering all the questions you might have."

"Then take me to someone who can!" He nods.

"There's this witch I know. She lives alone in the city. It's been an age since anyone talked to her. She might be able to help."

"Where can I find her?" I can tell he's having trouble with this, debating with himself whether he should tell me or not. Finally, he says,

"Follow me," and begins to walk away.

------------------------------

The Observer:

He's coming here. Angel is coming to my home. There was a time when I would have tried to make myself presentable, but I don't have the strength any more.

I shuffle over to my bed and sit down just as I hear the door open. My bones ache more and more now, and I'm forced to spend more and more time in bed, my scrying bowl my only 'entertainment'. I miss my youth, but in my old age I've come to realise that youth is something that must be used wisely. Put it into the wrong hands and terrible destruction follows. That's the problem with vampires. Blessed with eternal youth and cursed to misuse it.

They're just outside the room now, talking. I'm guessing they don't know I can hear them.

"Anything you want to tell me before I go in there?"

"Not really, but I will say this. She's powerful, and for the most part she's on our side. But she's a wild card. She doesn't serve the Powers; she just does things her own way. Always has. You may want to be careful."

"Thanks." Then the door swings open.

------------------------------

Angel:

The door swings open – like everything else in this world it seems to be made of plastic textured to look like wood – and I can see the witch lying in bed on the other side of the room. It's slightly smaller than I was expecting. She's very old, her hair completely white and tied in a bun behind her head. She's also very thin, the skin of her face drawn against her cheekbones, and I'm guessing she isn't very strong physically. But from the way she's looking at me, her mind's as keen as ever it has been. Whistler was right: I'll have to watch myself around her.

"Hello, Angel," she says even before I've had a chance to speak.

"Do you know me?"

"I used to. I'm not really surprised you don't recognise me. We've both changed a lot in the last few centuries. Perhaps this will help." And with that, she closes her eyes and begins a meditation.

In just a few minutes her cheeks have fleshed out slightly and her hair, once white, is now tinted with strands of vibrant ginger hair. The woman I had taken to be eighty or ninety years old now looks to be in her mid-forties. If she has this power, there's no telling how old she could be. And though her face still shows signs of wear, and she has a wrinkle or two, there's no mistaking the witch before me.

"Oh my god… Willow…"

* * *

Yes, Willow was the Observer all along. Well... more or less. Keen readers might notice that some of the earlier Observer paragraphs have a more 'Whistler' feel to them. I'll let you decide for yourself why that is.


	17. Part 17

Edward:

I'm exhausted. Since the fall of BC&N, there has been no respite. Buffy was hurt, and has required looking after, and then there's Jericho. Jericho doesn't have a soul. It shouldn't surprise me, but it does. So he's locked up downstairs. Angel mentioned a couple of spells to me that could restore a soul to a vampire, but as yet I'm having trouble finding them. One of them is a curse – a gypsy curse, which just screams cliché. Apparently it was used on Angel a couple of times, but not on any other vampires. That doesn't sound too promising to me. And Spike got himself a soul, though nobody's really sure how. Spike himself can't tell us, but apparently it involved a quest and a trial and there was a demon. That description doesn't particularly fill me with confidence either.

"Edward…"

"Yes?" I turn to see who spoke, but there's no one there. Odd… Perhaps I imagined it. I have been under a lot of pressure lately.

Someone walks in the front door and it takes me a while to recognise them.

"Ah, Mr Finn, how nice to see you."

"Hey, Ed, how's things?"

"Not going well, I'm afraid. I'm looking for a spell for Jericho, but our records are nowhere near complete enough to find what I need. When Rick gets back, I should be able to have more luck."

"I see… Jericho's the creepy guy with blond hair?"

"Would you call that blond? It's kinda dark…"

"Well, whatever. Umm… is Buffy okay?" I nod, and shrug.

"She's stable. I don't think she's awake yet."

"Could I see her?" he asks, motioning to the flowers in his hand. He must have gone to quite a lot of trouble to get hold of that many – they're quite expensive.

"Look, Miles, I know that you want to know if she's okay, and I swear that I'll tell you as soon as she wakes up."

"Bu…"

"And I also understand that you were the one that found her and you feel responsible. I get that. But right now all you can do is let her rest." He nods and turns away. "Do you want me to give her the flowers?"

"No, I'll give them to her myself." And with that, he walks out of the shop, head hanging slightly lower than when he walked in, and I get back to my books.

There's a muted cry from outside. He must be really taking this bad. Then I hear footsteps again, and once again a shadow falls over my work.

"Mr Finn, if you've…" But then I stop, because I've looked at the person standing before me. In a second I take in the tall body, the long jet black hair, the blue eyes and the dazzling smile. Well, this is a surprise.

"Hello Edward."

"Hello Kass."

------------------------------

Angel:

"Oh my god… Willow…"

"Well, at least someone recognises me. I've changed so much I was starting to wonder if anyone ever would again. That's the good thing about being resurrected; you didn't have to cope with living these past centuries."

"But… how?"

"Oh, it took me a while… Most people wouldn't have been able to, but I was naturally gifted, and I was determined to not let the world fall into the abyss I foresaw. Some good I did on that score," she said ruefully.

"What do you mean?"

"Angel, you've got a photographic memory. Don't tell me you haven't noticed the destruction all over the place. Buildings fall down and the rubble isn't cleared up for decades. The buildings are built so tall, but people never notice when they just disappear. Not one person has commented that the office of Barnett, Clarke and Nicholls no longer exists."

"So what happened?" She sighs.

"For a hundred years I checked portents, consulted oracles. All the while I was looking for the wrong thing. Then the war rolled on, and I couldn't stop what happened."

"The war? You mean the End of Days?"

"I mean nuclear. Technology had moved on quite a bit since your passing, and most of the big cities were protected. Unfortunately, the rest of the land was destroyed. Mountains were levelled, forests destroyed. Nobody dares go outside the Wall anymore for fear of the demons that made it their home. Of course, most people claim not to know anything about the demons. They don't go out because of mutants or fallout."

"So there's no wild country left in the world?"

"The poles were pretty much untouched. They're smaller now, though. And the equatorial regions of Africa, some of them are okay. Some people spend all they have just to get to the wild land that's still alive. Most of Asia and some of Eastern Europe was maintained as well, though corporations saw the remaining 'uncorrupted' land as a resource and built more cities."

"But we just collected an army from across the globe. If it's impossible to travel between the cities, how did we get so many?"

"I never said it was impossible. I just said it was difficult. And expensive. It makes me sick."

"What does?"

"The Earth is dying, Angel. And it wasn't demons or fiends or even the First. It was Man. Man killed the Earth, and with it they killed themselves. Anyway, that threw the forces of darkness into panic and the End of Days came around. The demons picked off the remnants of humanity until the good guys fought back."

"We won?"

"I thought you were smarter than that, Angel. A lot of demons were killed – ancient demons. A lot of vampires drank their last. Did you know that after the End of Days Spike became one of the oldest vampires? And since then even more have been killed. Most are lucky to live more than three hundred years. More people than ever know about demons now and it still isn't public knowledge. But that doesn't mean we won. The First is still out there, just waiting for a chance to strike. Ever since then, people have been a lot less curious about everything. And that's why we need Champions now more than ever."

"Is that why Buffy's here now? Did you bring her here?"

"No, it wasn't me. But the Powers That Be knew what I know. The Earth is dying, and a lot of the old ways are going with it. You know, when I first learned how to rejuvenate myself, I could do it all the way. I could make myself a teenager at will. Now though, the magic is fading, and I have to conserve my strength. In a matter of days, maybe hours, I'll be old and wrinkly again. It's the same with the Slayer. After so many generations, the Slayer spirit is not as strong as it once was. The Powers decided to bring back the greatest Slayer they'd ever had. I don't see why they bothered. If they'd just take care of the problem themselves they wouldn't have to go to the trouble." I nod. That's a sentiment that I'm only too familiar with. "Still, I don't think the Powers anticipated her complete withdrawal from life though, and so I had to give her something to draw her out."

"Me?"

"Mr Barnett and his companions decided you were worth a gamble. Spike helped things along, and I must admit that I did too. Hadn't you wondered why you're stronger than other humans - even stronger than most vampires?"

"I take it you had something to do with that as well?" She smiles slyly.

"I knew you, Angel. I decided to do what I could to make you fight for good, so I gave you the advantages you'd need. I could have allowed you to be turned into a vampire, then cursed you, but I assumed you'd just have left like last time. I didn't think it was worth the hassle."

"Why didn't you reveal yourself to Buffy earlier?"

"What would have been the point? I was helping you as much as I could under the circumstances. Look, Angel, this may be hard for you to accept, but I'm a very old woman, and I don't have much power any more. All I can do now is guide things from afar. Unfortunately, things are slightly more complicated now."

"You mean Jackie…"

"Hmm."

"That's something else I don't understand. How was Jackie turned? Spike said the Slayer instinct prevented them from drinking."

"I told you already. Why won't you listen to what I say? The Slayer instinct is getting weak. Jackie had much less power than Buffy did in her day. That's why the Powers brought her back. Unfortunately, now that Jackie has been turned, the Slayer spirit and the vampiric demon are going to struggle for power, and she's going to get stronger at an incredible rate. You have to kill her before she gets too powerful. There's no telling what she might do."

"Can't you help at all?"

"What do you think I am, Angel? I'm not some indifferent entity like the Powers - you wouldn't even be standing here if not for me." She pointed to a scrap of paper on the table. "That's the gypsy curse that gave you a soul, rewritten slightly so that it'll affect Spike's friend Jason. Maybe then you'll be able to convince the others to let him out of that cage you've locked him in."

"Can't you just curse Jackie?"

"No. It's… it's all about souls, Angel. Your soul defines who you are. Every human has one. Every vampire has a soul too, although it's demonic and lacking any human conscience. It is possible to have two souls in one body. This occasionally manifests as various forms of insanity, but in some cases…"

"Like mine."

"Precisely. A vampire with a human soul, a werewolf… or a Slayer. Slayers usually have a Slayer spirit perfectly coupled with a human soul, but now that Jackie has been turned…"

"She's got a Slayer spirit in conflict with a vampire soul."

"Adding a third soul could be extremely dangerous, for everyone involved. She has to die, Angel." Something strikes me.

"I only have one soul now, right? Being human, I mean." She hesitates.

"I'm afraid not. In order to allow you to keep your vampiric strength, I was forced to bond your demonic half to your human soul. They're fused permanently now, so you needn't fear losing either your powers or your conscience. It does mean that you'll have to continue to battle all those urges you've had to fight." I don't sigh. It would be too dramatic. I've been so used to having that demonic side of me in the background that I don't even notice it now.

"What about Buffy? I can't do this without her." She thinks for awhile.

"Very well. Bring her here, and I'll heal her. But only the two of you - I don't want the entire army turning up at my door. Go now. Whistler's waiting for you outside."


	18. Part 18

Demon:

It's incredible how quickly things can fall apart. I was prepared for the summit, travelled all the way from London, which I don't mind telling you cost quite a pretty penny. Then Jericho broke in, with Angelus and someone else in tow, and began a killing spree. Well, it was a shame, but no great loss really. Most of the people in that room wanted to do evil, but had very little capacity for it. Unwilling to be hacked apart with the others, I threw myself out of the window at the first opportunity. The concrete hurt, but for a demon like me the pain was transient and no damage was done.

I was under the impression, when I agreed to attend Mr Clarke's summit, that Angelus was going to unite all of us. Clearly that didn't happen. And now I'm the only one left. I can lead them, I have no doubt, but I can't unite them. I have no reputation among the creatures of the night. I find that it makes it a lot easier to do unspeakable evil when nobody knows who you are. Still, that means that I need someone else - someone strong - someone that wants the attention.

No sooner have I escaped the carnage and retreated to the shadows to tend my wounds, than I find exactly what I'm looking for. Across the street from me is a bookstore that just screams 'headquarters'. Why is that demon hunters gravitate towards books?

I just see a tall woman with black hair walk through the door, but I'm more interested in the man that's just walked out. Another woman appears, seemingly from thin air and circles him like a vulture. Oddly, she looks exactly like the woman that entered the shop a moment ago. Astral projection, perhaps? Or a relative? It doesn't matter.

The poor boy is taken completely unawares. She strokes his arms, whispers huskily in his ear, and he can't see that it is all for show. He blushes and stammers and clutches at the bunch of flowers in his hand. What a fool. Still, one must commend his self control. If that girl had done that to me, I certainly wouldn't have held back.

But what impresses me most of all is what follows. While he shuts his eyes, tears at the corners, she positions herself behind him. Her left arm shoots out and she clutches his heart. Then removes it. The flowers hit the floor and begin to soak up the blood that pours from his chest.

I have to keep an eye on this girl.

------------------------------

Edward:

"Hello Kass." My mouth moves, but my mind has completely shut down. I didn't think I would ever see her again. We didn't part of the best of terms, and we haven't spoken for almost a year.

"Edward, close your mouth." I do so. This woman can still make me feel small without even trying. "Edward, I'm here to see my daughter." Ah.

"Kass… I'm… I'm afraid…" Her eyes narrow, angrily, and then widen and I can tell that she's worried.

"What? What's happened to Jackie? What did Matt do?" There's a moan of pleasure from the doorway, and Kass turns.

"Mmm… Matt didn't do anything, Mommy. But Edward did." Kass runs over to her and throws her arms round her daughter's neck. They look so similar. If it weren't for the fact that Kass is slightly taller, and Jackie has more muscle tone, it would be difficult to tell them apart. Jackie's hair is slightly lighter also, and her eyes darker, but from a distance it is hard to see such differences.

"Oh Jackie, I've been so worried. You haven't called me for weeks, and I had no idea what happened." Jackie whispers soothing words in her mother's ear, but she is looking straight at me with those dark eyes and caressing Kass' raven hair with her right hand. Subconsciously I let my gaze wonder down to her left hand, which is hanging by her side.

She's holding a red mass tightly in her fingers, and red liquid is dripping on the floor. I almost vomit when I realise what it is. She's holding a heart, ripped straight out of someone's chest.

This is delicate. I have to save Kass, but I can't let Jackie know what I'm doing or she'll kill Kass without remorse. I know I've got a bottle of holy water around here somewhere, but if I make large movements she'll see what I'm doing. There! I've got it. But I can't throw it, because she'll see it in the air and Kass will be dead. I need a distraction. Somebody help me!

"Hey, do I know you?"

------------------------------

Demon:

Now this is fun. What an interesting girl that Jackie is. Oh, look at this. The cavalry is here. Won't this be the real test of her worth?

------------------------------

Whistler:

I brought Angel back just in time. We turn up at the shop to find Jackie and her mother in the middle of an embrace. It's the perfect opportunity for him to play the hero. And what does he come out with?

"Hey, do I know you?" I suppose he hasn't seen either of them before. And it does get their attention. Jackie spins round, holding Kass around the neck and glares menacingly at the new arrival. This sends Kass into confusion, and she begins to clutch at her daughter's arm. I slip into the shadows. It's habit really, because I've become so used to not being seen that I do it automatically.

Just then, a jar collides with Kass's back and sprays holy water over the pair of them. It must be enchanted, because a small bottle like that couldn't possibly contain so much water. Jackie can't yet be used to being a vampire, because she reacts by hurling her mother to one side and clawing at her back.

Angel is quick, because he instantly dives forward, and the pair of them land on the ground. Edward scuttles towards Kass, and Angel and Jackie both rise to their feet. Then move forward again, attack, block, counter. Jackie is strong, but so far Angel seems to be stronger. I will Angel to kill her, but I know he won't. He's not ready yet. But if he did, things would be so much easier for all of them.

Jackie leaps to her feet again, kicking out at Angel and knocking him back. She catches him in the stomach, flooring him.

"Jackie?" Oh dear.

------------------------------

Matt:

I was with Eve - Buffy - when we heard the commotion from the shop floor. Neither of us thought much of it. Sound doesn't carry well through the building, and I assumed that it was Angel arrived back with news from his mysterious contact. So I went to take a look.

It turns out that that was a mistake.

"Jackie?" She looks up at me, in what seems to be horror, and I can see for myself what she has become. She must have exerted herself in the fight, because her face is a vampiric one. Her fangs are obvious, as is the dried blood on her arm. She hesitates for a moment, and Angel pushes himself to his knees. I clutch the stake that I always keep with me, praying that I won't be called upon to use it.

She does nothing, just stares at me, and everyone in the room just stares at her. Suddenly, a man in a leather jacket - the same man I met earlier! - appears beside her and touches her on the shoulder.

"Leave," he says in an accented voice, and she immediately runs out of the shop and into the darkness. He turns to Angel, who's still holding his stomach by the wall. "I've revealed myself, Angel. Get your Slayer quickly, because very soon I won't be able to help you any more."

I can't react as Angel walks past me. Jackie was here, a vampire. Angel brushes by me again on his way out, and Eve's prone body is in his arms.


	19. Part 19

Buffy:

I had fallen asleep again. Since being attacked by Jackie, I've been sleeping a lot. I barely registered Angel picking me up and walking out into the street, or the commotion that was going on. It passed me by like a dream, and now I'm being forced to wake up. Oddly, the pain seems to have vanished completely. I blink several times, and look at the figure leaning over me. It takes a while to focus.

"She'll be fine now. You should go. That sapped much of my strength, and I need to rest." It isn't Angel or Matt, or anyone I might have expected. Whoever it is has white hair and a raspy voice. I blink again.

"W-willow?"

"Hello, Buffy." She smiles at me.

"Willow, what…? How…? Why…?"

"I wish I could explain everything to you, my girl, but healing you has drained me."

"But…"

"She's right, Buffy. This isn't the time." It's Angel. Willow moves out of sight. "We'll see Willow again once we've dealt with Jackie."

"Jackie? Did you find her? Is she…?"

"She came to the shop."

"Oh my god. Is anyone hurt?"

"No, I managed to beat her to a standstill and she ran off. But if what Willow told me is true, then she'll get stronger quickly."

"How did Matt take it?"

"Not well. He saw her face. There was someone else there too."

"It was her mother." I look at the newcomer. He seems familiar.

"Her mother? Kass came to the shop? I thought she said she was never going to do that again after her falling out with Edward."

"Apparently she changed her mind." I squint at this new man.

"Do I know you?"

"We met once. A long time ago."

"Oh." For some reason, I don't want to know any more. I sit up.

"Careful, Buffy." I look at Angel. He's such an over-protective dear.

"Angel, I'm fine. Let's go." I glance over to the bed in the corner, where the aged form of my old best friend is already fast asleep.

"I'll wait here," says the stranger, "look after Willow. You can explain everything on the way back to the shop. I have a feeling that you'll both need to prepare yourselves for what's coming."

------------------------------

Demon:

When the girl ran out of the shop, I decided to make my move. So I'm following her, watching from the shadows, the rooftops - wherever I think I can remain hidden. I wonder how long it will take her to realise that I'm following her. Apparently it didn't take as long as I thought, because as I round the next corner she is waiting for me. Her face is still twisted and cruel, and she hisses at me with undisguised malice.

"I don't appreciate being followed. Who are you?"

"I am an admirer," I tell her, and turn on the charm. "A one such as you should not be wasting her talents on these poor fools. They are peons, not fit to lick your boots." She smiles, forces her face to its human form and looks at me from beneath thick eyelashes.

"And what should I be using my talents for?"

"Anything you desire. With powers as great as yours you could rule this world and crush all opposition beneath your heel."

"You're really fond of the foot metaphors, aren't you?"

"What can I say? I have specific tastes."

"So what do you get out of this?"

"I merely want to serve you. I wish to be there when you ascend to power." She looks down, pouts and strokes my arm.

"I suppose you know how I would go about doing this? You could help me achieve these goals?"

"It would be a supreme pleasure. I am your slave." I may be laying it on a little thick, but this girl has enormous, untapped potential. Angel refused to lead the forces of darkness in the second battle, but she may yet do it. And if what I have seen is any estimate, she will be a general a hundred times greater than Angelus could be.

She clutches my hand in her claw-like fingers, her face shifting back to her fangs and golden eyes.

"No thank you," she says. "Not interested." And lunges at my neck. I am dead in mere moments. Such… power…

------------------------------

Edward:

Wearily I sit down behind the desk in the storefront. Angel and Buffy return not long after. Buffy is looking almost completely recovered, which amazes me. She was healed by a witch apparently, but neither of them wants to give me any details. I'm supposed to be the guy in charge, and they refuse to give me details. I really hope they know what they're doing.

"We got the curse for Jericho," Angel tells me. I take it. It's in another language that I do not understand, but there's both a translation and a phonetic spelling for pronunciation. That's handy.

"What's been happening around here?" Buffy asks.

"Not a lot," I reply absently as I read through the curse. "I explained to Kass that Jackie's dead."

"How did she take it?"

"How would you have taken it? She's not responding to anything, and sitting quietly by herself in the back room." I finished reading through the parchment. "Okay, this shouldn't be too difficult. Give me a second and we can get set up."

------------------------------

Kass:

Jackie's dead. My poor baby girl. She's dead and some evil creature is using her body like a puppet. Why did I ever let Edward take her away from me? Why did I leave her with that boy Matt? She would have been safe with me… she would have…

I know it's not true. She was a Slayer. I found out a lot about Slayers in the time I spent hanging around this store. She was strong, and she was smart. And she saved people. That's better than any life I could have hoped to give her. But why did she _die_?

People walk past me, and some of them talk, but I can't respond. Not yet. Jackie's gone, and I need time. I wonder how much time has gone by already. How long did I go without knowing that she was dead? Shouldn't I have known?

I blink. Someone's sitting next to me.

"Leave me alone," I tell him. I'm being childish, I know. But I never was very good at acting my age.

"You think it's easy for me?" Matt asks. "I loved her too. It's senseless and I hate it, but it's happened now and we can't change it."

"Is this supposed to be cheering me up?"

"I'm not trying to achieve anything. I just… I want you to realise that you're not alone in how you feel. Every moment I curse myself that I wasn't there to save her. If I was, maybe I'd be dead instead and she'd still be here."

"Edward said she was killed by a vampire… you know… bitten."

"Yeah, Jericho. He said he was trying to save her, but… I don't know. I just couldn't trust anyone that would try to do that."

"He's dead, though, right? You staked him or cut his head off or whatever it takes to kill these things?" His head hangs low.

"I wish. Angel and the others won't let me." Wait…

"He's _here_?"


	20. Part 20

Buffy:

Willow's spell is working great, but when we get back to the shop, Angel still insists that I need to rest for a while. He says I'm too weak to take part in performing this ritual. This time I don't bother arguing. Magic was never my strong point, in any of my lives. So I leave it to Angel and Edward.

There's a little area upstairs where the spells are performed. There's no carpet, due to the high possibility of fire. In fact, the floor has been painted repeatedly to get rid of any diagrams that had to be inscribed on the ground. Some of the more recent ones are still visible. Compared to some things, this ritual is quite simple. No painting required.

You need a pot, and various herbs and spices. Oh, and an orb of Thessala. We don't have one, but the note Willow gave us has a simple charm for turning any glass sphere temporarily into an orb capable of containing a soul drawn from the ether.

Angel sits in the centre, next to the orb. He and Edward had a little disagreement earlier about which one of them should actually cast the spell. It was quite amusing, really.

"I'm not doing it. Too many bad memories," protested Angel.

"Well I'm not doing it. I don't speak ancient Romanian."

"You think I do?"

"You were around when it still existed as a language, so I'm thinking you're better off than I am. Besides, I thought you were a whiz with languages and things." Angel sighed. I think a part of him wanted to cast the ritual. It would be a nice cycle. He casts the spell once used on him to create the next generation of souled vampires. Is that irony? I'm not sure. Poetic, maybe.

"Look, all you really need is the accent. Your sorceress gave you phonetic spelling as well." Angel snatched at the sheets, muttering

"Thanks a lot, Willow." So now he's sitting there, reading from a phonetically-spelled sheet of old Romanian while Edward walks around waving incense. I'm glad I'm just watching, because they both look quite ridiculous.

Even so, I can feel the power in the room, and it makes me nervous. I've never witnessed this spell being performed, so I can't really know what to expect, but the feeling crawling along my spine tells me that something must be happening.

As the spell continues, Angel's voice rises to a crescendo, as if he no longer has control of the words. Even Edward gives him a worried glance as he walks past with the incense.

"Asa sa fie!" he practically screams. "Asa sa fie!" I have no idea what it means, but I think it must be nearly the end, because the orb is starting to glow brightly. "Acum!"

And, just like that, Angel slumps down and it is over. He looks up at me, grinning lopsidedly, and I move over to him.

"Did it work?" Edward asks, but before we have time to think about that, Matt bowls in through the door. He's slightly flustered.

"Guys… I think I may have said something I shouldn't have."

------------------------------

Gene:

Things have been quiet down here. That probably means that something very important is happening. The lone guard they've posted to watch both me and Jericho is looking nervous, as if he isn't sure whether he should go and find out what's going on or stay to watch us. I wish he would go, because I'm getting curious myself. I doubt Jericho's planning anything, and I'm so shaken up after Angel's cold threats that I can hardly stand.

Suddenly, something in the cage opposite grabs my attention, and I walk up to the bars to get a better look. Jericho has thrown himself forward and onto his knees. He looks in pain, and is making some low grunting noises. I look over at the guard, but he's on his way up the stairs, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"Uh… Jericho?" I ask, but he doesn't reply. He stays seated on the cold, hard floor, arms wrapped around his torso.

At this moment, my attention is drawn towards the basement door. The door opened as the curious guard reached it, and he doesn't seem pleased.

"Hey!" he says in confusion. "You can't come in…" Then he doubles over and groans in pain. As he leans, winded, against the wall, a woman enters, takes the keys hanging from his pocket despite his objections, and hops down the stairs two at a time. I think at first it must be Jackie, and that she must have already killed everyone upstairs.

I soon realise this isn't true, though. If she was Jackie, that hapless guard would be dead, and she wouldn't need his keys. This must, instead, be Jackie's mother. I had heard she was estranged from the group, though, so her presence here is a little surprising.

She strides over to Jericho's cage and unlocks it, and it is only then that I notice the wooden stake in her hands. I can't help but smile. Jericho, on the other hand, has no idea what is going on. He looks up at the woman towering over her, and both of their eyes are full of tears.

"Who are you?" he asks, his voice catching in his throat.

"Don't I look familiar?" she screeches. "You murdered my daughter!"

"I what? I'm… sorry."

"Sorry? Sorry!" She lunges forward with the stake, and he makes no move to stop her. He's probably too shocked. However, Angel comes to his rescue by pulling the woman back… her name is Kass, if I recall correctly… and relieving her of the stake. I was so absorbed in watching the cage that I didn't even hear him approach.

Kass falls to her knees and doesn't get up again. I can hear her sobbing from here. Jericho looks ready to vomit, except that vampires never do.

"What have I done?" he mutters into his chest, curling into a ball and rocking gently. Kass wails as Edward comes up to her. Matt is standing far back, watching silently with his sister leaning on his arm.

"What's happening?" Kass asks Edward pleadingly.

"We just returned his soul." Is that so? Kass doesn't seem impressed. Instead, she only cries out louder, clutching onto Edward and burying her face in his shirt.

"You stole my revenge!" she bawls. Angel just shakes his head. Looking at Jericho lying in the foetal position, I'm inclined to agree with him.

------------------------------

Vampire:

This isn't an easy time for my kind. Well, it is, in a way. People are more scared than they've been for a long time. So much has happened to the world that things like vampires can't be hidden any more. Most of us don't try. I've been around a hundred years or more, and I still do, but I'm starting to doubt whether there's any point. People just refuse to believe. I've seen whole hordes of vampires run around town, drinking on people openly. Even those witnesses that survive tell stories of gang activity and mutants rather than vampires. I suppose there's no reason for them to suspect vampires. Even the myths aren't as popular any more. They used to be plentiful - every mortal had his own theories about vampires. Since vampires have become more obvious, writers tend to avoid the subject wherever possible. It's a defence mechanism, I guess. Nobody wants to get close to the truth any more.

The only problem with this is that nobody complains when buildings are torched - turf wars, as they're often called, are commonplace. The few people that do know about vampires - the hunters, and that band that call themselves Watchers after a long defunct society - don't have to hide either. That's why I still hide. Not from the populace, but from those that aren't afraid to see what's there.

My brood hides too. I'm the leader, as it were. I'm the strongest, and I made most of the others. They all respect me in their own ways, whether they follow obediently or with… encouragement. Nobody has ever dared to intrude in my home. At least, not until now.

The girl that forces open the door is quite attractive. Average height, long, dark hair, curves in… almost all the right places. That's all the human in me would have seen. But now I can see something else. There's something in her eyes - a cruel cunning that I look for as a vampire. If she weren't one already, I might have considered turning her into a vampire herself. But she is… I can smell the blood on her.

"Who's the leader here?" she asks the room. There are many vampires here, most of whom are now taking notice. I stand up and swagger over to her. The swagger is a very difficult manoeuvre to pull off, especially for vampires and other creatures that find it difficult to get drunk. I'm quite proud of mine.

"I am," I tell her. "Who are you?" She smiles coyly.

"I'm the new girl in town. Won't you invite me in?" She walks further in before I can answer, so now she's totally surrounded by my 'family'. "Oh, you don't need to." This girl's got guts, but she's starting to annoy me.

"What do you want? You want to muscle in and take over? Sorry but…" She cuts me off.

"Take over? What makes you think I'd want to lead a group of pathetic little vampires like you? Everything about your kind sickens me." Suddenly I'm confused.

"But you're one of…" Her hand shoots out and grips my neck, putting pressure on my wind pipe. I don't need to breathe, so there's no risk of suffocation, but her nails digging into my flesh are very painful. Other vampires around the room react, but they're not fast enough to do anything.

"If you value yourself, I'd think carefully about finishing that sentence." I then come to realise that this girl is the strongest person I've ever met, and it's not a pleasant thought. She's not fond of us vampires - despite being one herself, oddly - and if she wanted to wipe us out she'd be able to very easily. Despite having her outnumbered and surrounded, we wouldn't stand a chance. She still hasn't let go of my throat, and I can both feel and smell a trickle of my own blood running down across my collarbone.

"Okay…" I say, ignoring the pain. "If you don't want to take over, why are you here?" She holds up something in her hand. It's about the size and shape of an egg, but dark metallic green. It has a handle and a hole for a pin at the top.

"Have you ever seen one of these before?" she asks innocently. If I could, I'd shiver.


	21. Part 21

Messenger:

The shop is locked up when I get back. It's almost never locked up. I bang on the door as hard as I can, and shout for someone to hear me. It's important that I tell them what I know soon, because they may need to take action fast.

Eventually, I heard the myriad locks on the door being undone and it opens just far enough for someone to make himself visible.

"Help you?" he asks. I wrack my brains for a moment before I recognise him as Thomas, one of the many people here that fights evil because they have nothing else to do. Like so many others, his family was probably killed by demons long ago, and the authorities did nothing about it.

"Would you let me in?" I say quickly, practically tripping over my words. "I've got news for Mr Giles." He steps back and opens the door, letting me in. As usual, I see the tiny storefront and am awestruck by the massive operation that runs from its back rooms.

Thomas locks up behind me.

"Why's the place closed up?" I query, nodding to him as he fastens the final bolt.

"There was some commotion a while ago. Crazy shit, I'm telling you." He walks off to the back room, now that the doorway is secure, and I fall in step beside him.

"What happened?"

"What didn't? Jackie showed up and made a scene."

"Isn't she dead?"

"She's a vampire."

"Shit."

"Yeah. And not long after, Kass tried to kill Jericho as they returned his soul."

"Kass is back? When did she get back? I thought Jericho already had a soul."

"Kass got back about the time Jackie made her appearance. And Jericho didn't have a soul, but now he does." I nod.

"Oh." There is an extended pause. Thomas nods too.

"So what's your news?" he asks after a while. I look over to him.

"More of the same, I'm afraid."

"Shit." I nod. He nods. "They're through there," he tells me eventually, motioning to a door.

"Thanks." He smiles wanly and shrugs.

"No problem." Then he wanders off into the labyrinth of corridors and disappears.

------------------------------

Jackie:

Another ancient demon crumbles to dust in my hands. They are all pitiful weaklings. In a few hours I have crushed and destroyed dozens of nests - hundreds of vampires lie as ash in my wake!

The smartest of them tried to run, but I chased them down and slew them without mercy, along with anyone else that happened to see me in action. Some of them even kept humans as pets or hostages. They made sweet snacks. My belly is warm and full of fresh human blood.

And still I am not satisfied!

I have fed until bloated! I have killed and murdered the contemptuous demon spawn until I can find no more! And yet there is something within me that will not let me rest! I despise this vampire body and this Slayer instinct. What must I do to have peace?

I am going to fix it. With a few supplies that I liberated from BC&N, I will see to it that all demons suffer as I suffer.

Soon, there will be nothing on Earth left to kill.

------------------------------

Angel:

I don't envy Jericho for what he's going through at the moment. He'll cope, and from what I've seen of him without a soul I think that he'll have an easier time than I did. I hope so, because right now we need all the help we can get. Currently he's cloistered away in a tiny room at the back of the building. Despite what everyone seems to be saying, he just needs time to come to terms with things.

Meanwhile, I'm spending some precious time catching up with Buffy. We talk about nothing particular for a long while, and it's so good to just be with her that the pointlessness of the conversation doesn't bother me at all. Eventually though, I realise that if Jackie is truly as deadly as everyone believes, this may be the last chance I have to open up about everything. I don't want to live with her, or, worse, live without her, knowing that she never knew the truth.

"Honey? Are you okay?" It seems I've stopped talking. That wasn't intentional, but now that she knows I've got something on my mind I've got no excuse to avoid this further. I shift in my seat and turn to face her.

"Buffy, there's something I haven't told you."

"What is it?" Where to start…?

"Before I died all those years ago… there was… Darla… Darla was brought back to life…" Buffy just regards me expectantly with those gorgeous eyes, waiting on my every word. "It was a low point in my life," I continue, only slightly more confidently. "I did terrible things then… and one of them…" I pause again. Her gaze isn't making it easy, but I guess it's better than the alternative. "We slept together." She hardly even blinks. "It was horrible," I add quickly. "No risk of me losing my soul over that, but… She got pregnant from it, and we had a son together." There. It's in the open now, and I have no control over it.

Buffy's still looking at me. Please say something.

"Is that it?" Huh?

"Uh… yes…" Suddenly her face lights up and she chuckles. I am very confused.

"Oh, Angel. I already know." What? How?

"How?"

"You seem to be forgetting that you died before I did." In any other situation that sentence might seem odd, and yet it doesn't. "My memory of that life might be slightly fragmented here and there, especially towards the end, but one of the things I do remember is meeting Connor. Your friends introduced us when he appeared out of nowhere for your funeral."

"I had a funeral?"

"Just a small one. They explained who he was and how he came to be who he was. It took me some time, but eventually I accepted it. He got on so well with Dawn, and I kinda stared treating him like a part of the family. The last I saw of him, he was leaving to start his own life. You would have been so proud of him." I can feel a small smile on my face. Connor grew up to be a good man after all. "Angel, I could never stop loving you for bringing someone like him into the world."

I envelop her in a hug. All my guilt is finally lifted, after so long suffering, and I am free to enjoy my life. I can enjoy my life as a human.

Unfortunately, there's no time to reflect right now, because the door opens and someone walks in.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he mumbles, averting his eyes and taking a step back. Buffy and I separate, and she runs a hand over her ear, moving the hair out of the way. I don't recognise him, whoever it is, but I'm new here so that's not too surprising.

"That's okay. What did you want?"

"Um… Mr Giles wants to see you both. Uh… yeah." Still averting his eyes, he backs out and pulls the door closed behind him. It's not as if either of us was naked, but he did look very young.

Buffy looks me in the eyes and sighs.

"Back to work, I guess."

------------------------------

Edward:

Just for once in my life, I would like the chance to deal with one thing at a time. Is that too much to ask for? I suppose it is. I'm too old for this. I didn't think I was until recently, but now it's painfully clear to me.

Kass is not feeling good. I can't blame her, but there's nothing I could do or say that might make it any better for her either. I stayed with her while she cried out her tears. Neither of us said anything, and eventually she fell asleep. I would have loved to stay there with her longer, but I had other matters to attend to. As usual. Matt seemed to think it was his fault she felt like that, and it was. But I don't blame him, and I doubt she does either. She would have had to find out sooner or later. I know I couldn't have lied to her if she'd asked me about it.

Then the reports started coming in. Then the messenger arrived with more bad news. My head hurts, but I can't stop to do anything about that. So while I've sent him to notify E… Buffy and Angel, I'm sitting here in the small meeting room, rubbing my temples. Matt's here too, and thankfully he's being quiet. It's a shock for him too, I know.

There's a hesitant knock on the door, and as I look the messenger boy puts his head round.

"They're here, Mr Giles." I wave him in, too tired to speak. Angel and Buffy walk in behind him.

"What's up?"

"Sit down," I tell them. Buffy and Angel do so, in two of the available seats. The kid remains standing, obviously torn between sitting himself and leaving. It's too much hassle to do anything about it, so I try to ignore him.

"Guys," I tell them, placing both hands face down on the table and looking them with lidded eyes. "We have a problem."

"What is it?"

"For the last couple of hours, we've been getting sporadic reports that several notable demons and demon nests have been destroyed."

"Destroyed how?"

"Blown up, burned down, punched in, gouged out, you name it."

"Eew." That's Buffy. Eve would have taken that in her stride and said nothing, but it seems once someone has started talking they tend to carry on doing so.

"Do we know what's causing it?"

"No, but I think it's too much of a coincidence to hope that it might be someone new when there's already a powerful creature out there that likes killing demons."

"Jackie."

"Exactly."

"Isn't this a good thing?" Matt asks, finally leaning forward. "At the very least it shows that there's something left of Jackie in there." I know Matt knows better than this, but he is emotionally involved. That's something new for him. I take a deep breath, but nobody cares to fill the silence.

"It's true she is taking out the demon population remarkably quickly, taking down nests we've never been able to infiltrate, and some we didn't even know existed. If circumstances were different, I might even condone it. However, a number of human bystanders have been caught in the crossfire. Too many, in fact. The price is too high to let it continue." Matt sits back, seemingly convinced but not happy about it. "It gets worse."

"How?" I look up at the kid by the door. He's still waiting there.

"This is… um…"

"Ken."

"Ken, right. Sorry, I knew that. Tell them what you told me."

"I just came from the BC&N building. Rick's been killed." Buffy gasps and her hands fly to her mouth. She's known Rick for years, even if they weren't close.

"What else?" I prompt.

"Oh yeah. She's emptied the BC&N vaults."


	22. Part 22

Gene:

Things have been very quiet down here since they carted Jericho away. Nobody really cares about me, I guess. I wish I could pretend to be one of those people that craves peace and thrives in places like this, but I think it's more likely that I'll be driven to insanity by the solitude and all I'll end up being is a guy in a cage that people occasionally use to answer questions.

Oh, what a coincidence, there's a party outside my door. I sit up on the cot and look over at them.

"To what do I owe this pleasure?" I ask. They're all wearing their serious faces, but not all of them can pull it off.

"We need information."

"Is that so?" I let the pause hang in the air, then lean forward slightly. "First I'm going to need better treatment."

"No." Hm. I shrug and lie back down.

"Fine. Goodbye."

"What do you want?" asks Angel. At least he understands how this works. I sit up again.

"Well, I've got no money and you terminated my home and place of business. I have no intention of living in this cellar for the rest of my life, so what I want is a guarantee of shelter. I want to be moved upstairs, to a room with a decent bed. Keep a guard on me, I don't care. And I want two meals a day. Good ones." Matt rolls his eyes.

"You've got to be kidding me. We'll bring you food down here, how about that?"

"If I'd wanted a negotiation, I'd have asked for more. They're fair terms, and they allow me to ask for more when you need something else. So either accept this, or leave me alone." Matt, and Edward for that matter, still looks unconvinced, but fortunately they're not running the show any more.

"Deal," says Buffy. "Now tell us what BC&N kept in their vaults."

"You own the building, don't you know?"

"They were emptied."

"All of them?" They pause, and look at each other.

"No, just one."

"Which one?" Buffy scrunches up her face before attempting to answer.

"It was on the thirty… uh…"

"Third."

"…third floor."

"Oh shit."

"What? What is it?" I hesitate.

"You know the Wall that surrounds the city? The force field that keeps out all the creatures of the wasteland?"

"Um… sure."

"Well Burnett, Clarke & Nicholls provided it. And that room contains all the information we had on it."

"So what can she do?" She?

"There's no off switch, no giant button marked 'self-destruct', but my guess would be that she plans to bring the whole Wall down."

"How?"

"Most people think that the Wall is constructed solely from technology, but that's not completely true. The people that built it wove in some fairly potent blood magic. Actually, a lot of it came from about your time, Angel." He looks at me quizzically. "Some Hell goddess tried to bring down the barriers between dimensions."

"Glory…" whispers Buffy, shocked. Of course, she came from the same time too.

"Yeah, that's it. We used similar spells but did the opposite. We strengthened those barriers in certain places. Made them completely impenetrable. If she could undo those spells… and it probably wouldn't take much… then she could destroy not only the Wall around this city, but all connected barriers protecting every city on the planet."

"Another war…" I nod.

"If I was you, I'd try to find her very quickly."

------------------------------

Jericho:

That poor girl… it would be better if I'd just killed her, for everyone… Spike should have killed me all those years ago. Or he should have let me die. He cared so much that he was blinded to the consequences. I wish I could use the same argument for my own actions. I can't.

There is a quick knock at the door before it opens regardless and Angel stands framed in the doorway. There is a look of sympathy on his face, but he tries to hide it.

"It's time to make use of that soul," he says, then withdraws and closes the door behind him.

I wipe my face. I've done fewer terrible things in my time as a vampire than many have, but I'm still a long way from being okay about it. I read Angel's file, and I can't even imagine what he must put up with every day of his life.

I strap on my daisho. With these two weapons of war, I have done unspeakable things, and now I must use them again. I want nothing more to do with them, but they are necessary. I think I can understand finally why Spike stopped fighting. In combat, it must be all too easy to think about your past, to reflect on previous instances in which you did this, or pulled that manoeuvre, or went through such-and-such a routine. I shake my head. I don't have the luxury of being able to think about this. There is a job that must be done.

I walk into the room where the others are gathered. They are talking before I enter, but I am not listening, and when I appear they all fall silent and look at me. To them, nothing has changed in the brief time since I last met them. They have no reason to treat me any differently, to trust me any more or less. For me, the entire world is new and old again. Everything is different. I hate it, but I must be strong, just for a little while.

"What's going on?" I ask them, trying to hide the agony I feel inside.

"We were explaining what we know," says Buffy from Angel's side. It is incredible that she can accept him even though she is fully aware of what he's done. Perhaps there's hope for me, though it has been many centuries since he first gained a soul. I hope I don't have to wait that long.

"And?"

"We think Jackie is intending to collapse the Wall, and let chaos destroy the city. We don't know exactly what she's got planned, but she's probably going to be quite close to the Wall itself in order to do it."

"But the Wall goes around this city for hundreds, if not thousands of kilometres," inputs Edward.

"Yeah, but she's not going to travel halfway across a continent when she could just as easily go to the part of the Wall nearest us. That gives us only a mile or two at most to search."

"Search how? For all we know she could have her ritual in progress already, and we have no idea how far away from the Wall she'll need to be. There is no way for us…"

They are silenced once again by the appearance of Kass at the back end of the room. Her eyes are red from the tears, but she has made an effort to hide this beneath cosmetics. She stares at me from across the room, and I try to communicate to her mentally how sorry I am for what I did to her and her daughter. Edward, concerned, quickly moves over to her.

"Kass, you shouldn't be here," he says softly. Angered, she rounds on him suddenly, and he backs up hastily. Her voice is loud, albeit slightly cracked, as she advances on him.

"Edward, if you think I'm going to wait here while my little girl tries to destroy the world, you've got another thing coming!" He holds up his hands before him as if that'll calm her temper, and luckily for him it does.

"Okay, Kass. Okay." She looks back at me and makes for me. I don't move. She's tried to kill me already, and a part of me hopes that she'll try again. I won't stop her. I look down, unable to make eye contact with her.

"Jericho," she says simply when she'd standing in front of me. "Jericho, look at me." I gather the courage to face her and bring my gaze in line with hers. "Jericho, I've thought hard about what happened. I'm not happy about it, but you could be helpful, and I think I'm almost ready to forgive you for what you did."

I look at her hopefully, hardly daring to believe what she is saying. The tremendous slap she gives me sends my eyes rolling in my head and my ears ringing. I can feel the scratch marks from her nails, but I don't smell any blood. I don't reach up to my cheek, merely turn my head round again so that she could hit me again if she wished. It's less than I deserve.

"Almost," she repeats a moment later. I nod once. That's fair.

I stand there for a while, letting the pain in my cheek distract me from the pain in my soul even as it reminds me of it. Kass stands like a statue, though maybe time has stopped moving for me for just a second.

I'm brought out of my concentration by the arrival of someone else at the entrance of the shop. It's not surprising that I didn't notice him approach, but from the looks of it, nobody else did either.

"I don't mean to interrupt your little bonding session, but I thought you might want to know where your wayward vampire-Slayer is." I don't recognise him, but the others do. Angel steps forward.

"Whistler? What do you know?"

"Willow went looking for her, despite my objections. Jackie's hiding in one of the old government buildings in the Franklin neighbourhood. It's abandoned, and the Wall cuts right through it. Should be obvious." He turns to walk away.

"Wait, aren't you coming?"

"You know me better than that, Angel. Besides, I have to go look after Willow."

"How is Willow?" asks Buffy nervously. I wonder if this person they're discussing is yet another old acquaintance of Spike's. They seem to be cropping up all over the place.

"Not well," says Whistler sadly. "These last few days have taken a lot out of her. We'll be rooting for you." He moves to walk off again, but Matt runs forward, unwilling to let him go.

"Hey, wait a sec." Whistler looks back over his shoulder.

"Thank you," says Matt with as much sincerity as I've ever heard from him. "For everything." Whistler, who I now guess is the one that knocked some sense into Matt before this whole Jackie thing started, nods quickly then disappears into the night.


	23. Part 23

Edward:

We stand in rank in the old Franklin area, facing the government building where Whistler said we would find Jackie. In an instant I take in the grand colonnade and the marble facings, and the ugly red Wall slicing it in two. The Wall separates civilisation from the wasteland beyond, and does so effectively. It is impossible to see beyond it, and it would appear solid except for the swirling surface and the fact that it passes through old buildings and even abandoned vehicles like a hot knife through butter.

Matt and Buffy simultaneously let out a long whistle. Neither of them has seen the Wall before. It's not something that people like to look at, and only the true dregs of our society live anywhere near it. Buffy is standing wedged between Matt and Angel, and all at once I'm reminded that, regardless of what she calls herself now, she is still Matt's little sister. I'd hate for any of them to get hurt.

"Impressive, isn't it?" asks Kass from my side. She is twisting a stake between her hands, the only sign of her nervousness. She wanted to leave this life, and she wanted to take Jackie with her but she refused. Now she has been forced back to it to kill her only daughter. I can't imagine what she must be thinking right now.

"Edward, whatever happened to your helper girl?" she asks a short time later. "I didn't see her back at the shop." I hang my head for just a moment.

"Isabelle… died recently. Vampires."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I know you cared for her." I let the statement stand before replying.

"She couldn't compare to you Kass… she couldn't."

It's said, and Kass is looking at me with some undecipherable expression, but we don't have the time for it now. If we survive, then I pray we can talk further. If not, at least I've said so much.

"So," I say loudly, fixing my weapons in their places, "are we going in or not?"

------------------------------

Jackie:

I want to kill! But this spell will give me peace, I know it. Only death can satisfy me, and only this ritual can bring about death on a large enough scale. The Wall passes directly through this room, and already I can feel the bonds holding it together weakening. Only one more step is required to pull it down.

I savour the feeling of the knife in my flesh as I cut open the palm of my hand, and watch the blood dribble out before wiping it on the angry red force field before me. The Wall seems to recoil at my touch, and the movement of its surface quickens. As I watch, the red colour seems to leech away, and where I placed my hand a transparent patch grows in size. I can see the crumbling ruins of this same building on the other side, weathered away to nothing. The great desert stretches out into the distance. Soon, the entire planet will be as barren as that waste, and then I shall be finally content.

"Jackie!" I turn languidly and look as the 'good guys' come to stop me. They're too late of course. They don't know how to stop it, and even if they did they wouldn't allow it. They are cowards, all of them.

I stop. Matt is with them. I wish he could know my suffering. If I could show him, I would. But he never can. He is not a vampire… and he is not a Slayer. I can never make him understand what I have become.

------------------------------

Matt:

As we run into the old council room where Jackie has her ritual space set up, I call out her name.

"Jackie!" I know there's desperation in my voice, but I don't care. This creature used to be the person I loved. There has to be something of her left. She turns away from the Wall, which looks even more unsightly in here, and gives us all one long look. And then, ever so slowly, she raises her hand and licks up a line of blood from her palm. She looks at me the entire time, and I have to suppress a shiver.

"Jackie, don't do this," pleads Kass, but Jackie only smiles, baring her fangs.

"It's already done," she half laughs and half hisses, then leaps into our midst.

She strikes out in all directions at once, a kick sending me flying into a wall. As her hands flash past I can see her knife-like nails. I can feel the wind knocked out of me, but I look up quickly to see Buffy, Angel and Jericho, who are all still standing, attack her.

Jackie is faster than anything I've ever seen, evading every blow. She swings out and gives Angel a nasty cut across the face, then ducks around Jericho's swords before grabbing his wrist and twisting his own blade into his stomach. Jericho topples over, and I can feel him hit the ground even from here. I look past him at the Wall. There is a hole in it now, growing fast. It's almost half the size of the room, and I can see the moonlight on the other side - all buildings on the far side the Wall have long since succumbed to age.

When I look back at Jackie, she is fighting against my sister. It pains me to see the two women I love most in the world fighting like that. Jackie slashes Eve across the belly, and I wince with her. Jackie pulls her close and punches her in the face. Even from my prone position I can see her blood spurting out. I try to lift myself up. I have to help her.

"Poor sweet Eve," I hear Jackie say, delivering another punch. "You can't hope to defeat me." And another punch about the head. "If I was a vampire, perhaps even a Slayer, you might have had a chance, but I am something you've never seen before. I am something there has never been before." Jericho is on his feet again, but the wound in his torso is all too obvious, and he seems unable to stand upright. Of course it couldn't kill him, as a vampire. I watch, surprised, as Kass has raised herself to her feet and is quietly approaching Jackie from behind with her stake poised.

"We can stop you," Jericho tells her. "I _made_ you." Jackie looks at him for a moment, before her hand darts out and grabs him around the neck. She hurls Eve in the direction of the entrance, then spins and throws Jericho into Kass, who tries to scream as his great weight lands on top of her.

"Mother, _please_," mocks Jackie. Kass' stake flies out of her hands, and is now lying just a foot away from me. I reach out for it, my hands closing on it. It has to be me that finishes it, I understand. I'm the only one she'll let finish it.

By the time I'm on my feet, only Angel is still standing, caught in conflict with Jackie in the very centre of the chamber. Edward and Buffy are lying unconscious on opposite sides of the room, and Kass is trying to stem the bleeding from Jericho's many wounds.

I take a step forward, and Angel grabs hold of both of Jackie's wrists. Another step and Angel delivers a blow with his head that makes Jackie blink furiously for a minute. I ready the stake, and Angel wraps Jackie in a bear hug holding her tight as I approach. She spins in his grip, but can't free herself. And then she sees me. The fangs disappear, and I am looking into her true eyes once again.

"Don't make me do this," I plead. "Just undo what you've done. We can make you better, I promise!"

"No you can't!" she screams at me. "I don't have a choice! I need to be at peace! I can't stand it any more!" I lift the stake, but I can't kill her like this. I still love her.

"Do it," demands Angel, struggling to keep her arms pinned to her sides as she twists and turns, and I could swear I almost saw the words mirrored on her own lips. I try again, but the stake is shaking in my hands now. I place it over her heart, but can't bring myself to push. Everyone is awake now. Everyone is watching. "Do it."

"I…" But I don't get a chance. Jackie roars, breaking free of Angel's grasp and throwing him to the ground, and before I can react she has grabbed my arm and pulled me towards her. I want to let go of the stake, but she won't let me until it has pierced her heart.

When it is done, and the wooden stake is in her chest, she smiles at me again. As her skin turns to ash, she leans forward and kisses me and whispers, "Thank you." And then her vampire body explodes with a terrible wail, and she is gone. I've never before seen a vampire die like that, but Jackie was no ordinary vampire, as I well know.

The stake clatters on the floor.

"It's… over," I say, to the world in general.

"No it isn't," says Edward. We all look at him, kneeling by the ritual space by the deteriorating Wall. He is reading through some scrolls that Jackie left there, presumably detailing the magic. "I'm having trouble thinking clearly at the moment," he tells us, "but I think to fix it, we need her blood. We need to patch up the hole with her blood."

"But… she's gone. We can't use her blood."

"I'll do it." I turn again, this time towards Kass, who is kneeling with Jericho's head on her lap, stroking his cheek. Buffy looks horrified, and I remember from Spike's stories a similar sacrifice she was forced to make. "She was my daughter. My blood was in her." Jericho pushes himself to his feet.

"No, I'll do it," he says. "My blood was in her too, and hers in mine."

"But you've been bleeding so much."

"I've got less to lose, then. Besides," he looks Kass in the eyes, "you should go on living. That's not a choice I ever had."

"Are you sure?" asks Angel, and Jericho says he is. Angel leads him over to the Wall, as Edward explains what must be done. Something about herbs and… I'm not sure. All I can think about is that Jackie's death means that another of us must die, and it doesn't seem fair.

I go over to Kass to comfort her, and Buffy joins me. The three of us look on as Angel cuts open Jericho's palm, and Edward sprinkles something over the wound. A brief incantation, and suddenly a stream of blood flies out of the wound, hovering in the space where the Wall used to be. More and more blood is sucked out, and I watch in abject horror as Jericho's flesh withers away, and his eyes rot in his skull, and I can see his bones through his skin. Eventually, the blood fills the space where the hole once was, and instantly it becomes the Wall again, and it is impossible to see that there was any hole there. Only Jericho looks different.

Jericho's body lies on the floor, a virtual skeleton. Angel kneels over him, then recoils suddenly as Jericho twists on the ground and gasps for air. Everyone else is equally surprised.

"I was sure that was going to kill him," mutters Buffy from my side. Nobody takes their eyes off him.

And then I walk over. He must not suffer like this. I take the knife from Angel's hand and draw it quickly across my wrist, and then I place my wrist on Jericho's mouth. The change is startling. The blood vessels show clearly under his skin, pressed against the skeleton, and I can see my own blood passing through them.

In a short while, Angel pulls me back. Jericho is not himself again, but I don't protest. Angel takes the knife from my hand and makes a similar incision on himself, and feeds Jericho yet more blood from his own wrist. A minute later, Edward does the same… and Buffy after him… and Kass…

We can't let Jericho die now. He just saved the world.

------------------------------

Whistler:

"Whistler…" Willow's raspy voice brings me out of my reverie. I can only assume that she knows as well as I do what has happened. I move over to the seat next to her bed and take her hand in mine. It isn't fair, really, that some of us get to be immortal and others don't. Not that Willow didn't lead a good life - she led one of the best.

For almost a thousand years she did everything in her power to help those in need and in danger. It was a lonely life for her. Her magic eventually isolated her from everyone. She had a few romances, some of them even lasted decades, but they all came to an end. The other person either could not accept Willow's slowed aging or died in a tragic and pointless way. I remember one of the more tolerant, Rowena, who was killed in the End of Days. Willow never forgave herself for letting her die. Willow never really forgave herself for letting anyone die - she knew power over death, and she was forced to not use it for the safety of herself and the world.

I came to love her. I still do, although not romantically. She is now the Earth's great mother, and though I am older than her, I do not feel it. She cares for everything that exists with motherly affection, and has a wisdom that I have seen only in celestials and infernals - the Powers That Be.

"Whistler… the Earth is safe, the Slayer line strong again. I knew they could do it."

"Hush now. Save your strength."

"I have no strength left. But I do not need it any more. I have completed my work. The Slayers will continue, and a new line shall begin. The Earth will heal its wounds, and things will become better again. The cycle continues. But my life does not."

"No, don't go, Willow. Fight it. You can make it through this."

"No, Whistler. I am ready to accept this as my fate. There will be no more rejuvenation, no more fighting for me. Just peace." I cannot help but shed a tear. "Do not cry, Whistler. It is for you to guide them now. Their future is with you. I trust that you will make me proud. Goodbye, my dear old friend." And with her final words, her grip relaxes and the breath leaves her body. She is gone.

I will do as she wishes. I will guide them to their destiny. I will do my best to live up to Willow's expectations. After all, watching was starting to get boring.

* * *

Well, we've reached the end of my long story. I sincerely hope you've enjoyed the journey as much as I have. I'd like to thank everyone who stuck with it til the end, and I'd especially like to thank all those who felt strongly enough about it to leave a review. It's really appreciated, guys!

Remember, even in the future, life... and the fight... goes on.


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